M. Salaheddine MEZOUAR, Minister of Economy and Finance, and her Excellency Mrs Haruko HIROSE, the Japanese plenipotentiary extraordinary ambassador to Morocco proceeded on March 26th ,2008 to the signing at the Ministry`s headquarters of a first draft agreement between Morocco and the government of Japan in the presence of the Moroccan minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, Managing Director of the National Office of Drinking Water and the Managing Director of the National Fund for Roads.
By virtue of this agreement, the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) granted two loans to the total of 22.054 billion Yen, 1.62 billion Dirhams, to Morocco to fund the projects of the CFR and the ONEP as follows:
1- National programme of roads in rural areas II: this project is part of the national programme for building 15.500 km of road in rural areas, at a rate of 2000 km per year till 2012, aiming at connecting rural populations to the wider national network and reducing disparities between regions in terms of accessibility by road.
2- Drinking water supply programme for rural populations III: this project aims to supply drinking water to 240.000 inhabitants in the provinces of Khenifra, Chefchaouen and Taounate, and to build water treatment plants and distribution and junctions systems, using local water resources and dams (Sidi Said for Khenifra and Sidi Bouhouda for Taounate).
Mr. MEZOUAR and Mrs. HIROSE took the opportunity to review the different facets of the financial partnership between Morocco and Japan, and expressed their mutual satisfaction regarding the quality of this cooperation which reflects the friendship and mutual respect uniting the two nations.
In this regard, while underlining the exemplary nature of Moroccan-Japanese cooperation, Mr. MEZOUAR expressed the hope that the financial and technical support provided by Japan to our country could diversify and develop further in future, so as to contribute to the implementation of our ambitious programme of social and economic reforms, as well as of the National Programme for Human Development, both of which necessitate substantial funds and, therefore, the full support of partners such as Japan.
It should be noted that the size of the JBIC`s financial pledges, in terms of aid toward development projects, has increased at a significant pace in the last ten years, reaching the figure of 219.51 billion Yen, approximately 2.18 billion US Dollars, which means that Morocco is one of the main recipients of Japanese aid in Africa.
For her part, Mrs. Haruko HIROSE expressed her congratulations for the excellent bilateral relations the two countries enjoy; reaffirming that the Japanese government will consolidate them further, at the financial as well as the economic level.