This partnership, signed by the Minister of National Spatial Planning, Town Planning, Housing and Urban Policy, Nouzha Bouchareb and the Japanese Minister of Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, of Transport and Tourism, Iwai Shigeki, will promote the sharing, transfer of expertise, capacity building as well as good practices in the fields of planning and promotion of public policies relating to development and development. 'infrastructure.
Signed in the presence of the Japanese Ambassador to Morocco, Takashi Shinozuka, this memorandum is the first agreement signed by the ministry with this country and will have to materialize through actions relating to the priority axes, namely metropolization, urban resilience and risk management in cities, digitalization and the watch and observation professions, connectivity and competitiveness of territories as well as mobility and urban travel.
This official ceremony was organized on the sidelines of an international conference organized by the Japanese Ministry of State for Territories, Infrastructures, Transport and Tourism under the theme: "high quality infrastructure and town planning", articulated around several strategic axes such as urban policy, infrastructure, water and Public-Private Partnership.
Speaking on this occasion, Ms. Bouchareb indicated that this is a collective aspiration that her department aims to achieve through the establishment of this bilateral cooperation and the mobilization of in-depth expertise around innovative approaches to respond to current urban challenges and to build the territories of tomorrow.
In this regard, the Minister underlined the entire disposition of her Department to broaden the scope of this partnership towards triangular cooperation in favor of the countries of the African continent, taking into consideration the positioning of Morocco as a base of convergence between the Africa, Europe, Asia and the countries of the Arab world.
"I am convinced that the conclusions resulting from this conference will undoubtedly allow us to breathe new life into cooperation between Morocco and Japan, making it possible to lay the foundations for resilient and sustainable urban development placing people at the center of heart of policies and action, "she argued.
Recalling that the history of Moroccan-Japanese cooperation dates back more than fifty years, Ms. Bouchareb noted that it was strengthened under the reign of His Majesty King Mohamed VI through the holding of the 5th session of the mixed commission Morocco-Japan in Rabat in January 2020, which resulted in the signing of an important agreement aimed at the support and protection of investment as well as a tax treaty.
Aware of this active and united cooperation, Morocco has made this partnership a reality in many sectors, she stressed, noting that this cooperation must be strengthened today at the level of the territories which constitute the base and the receptacle of different infrastructures, programs and strategies.
Welcoming the financial support of Japan to Morocco during the health crisis which imposed several challenges and imperatives, the Minister stressed that the territories are called to be managed with a vision and a renewed approach to planning through the strengthening of resilience, the digital transformation of territories and innovation in design and production methods.
In a press statement, Ms. Bouchareb indicated that this Memorandum is part of the implementation of the High Guidelines of His Majesty King Mohamed VI aimed at encouraging the exchange and transfer of technology and expertise between Morocco and Japan, adding that this partnership will mainly concern the areas of territorial planning, town planning and investment, particularly in the construction sector.
"This is an opportunity to explore new horizons of triangular cooperation in favor of strengthening the urban development of the African continent," she said.
In addition, the Minister expressed the wish that this strategic partnership could strengthen exchanges and promote the transfer of technology and expertise in the areas of territorial planning, whose systems have been put to the test following pandemic, prevention and risk management with a view to strengthening the resilience of territories as a new development imperative, digital engineering, urban data and BIM digitization as levers of transformation of the 'action public and industrialization of construction to meet the need for affordable housing.
This videoconference was attended by the Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water, Abdelkader Amara, the Japanese Minister Delegate for International Projects, the President of the Japanese Association for the Development of Infrastructures in Africa (JAIDA), the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shimizu Corporation, the Chairman and CEO of Fujita Corporation as well as representatives of Moroccan and Japanese public and private companies, representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and senior officials from both countries.
Source : https://www.2m.ma