On August 24th, 2013, JICE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the agricultural cooperation with the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, the Kingdom of Bahrain. H.E. Dr. Juma bin Ahmed Al Kaabi, Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Ms. Sachiko Yamano, President of JICE, have signed the MoU at Gudaibiya Palace in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

　　This Signing Ceremony was held as a part of the Economic Mission for the Middle East led by H. E. Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, who visited the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Republic of Djibouti and the State of Qatar in August. The Ceremony held after the Summit, was graced with the presence of H.R.H. Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain and H.E. Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan. This ceremony was widely reported in the news coverage, including local newspaper in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

　　On August 25th, Ms. Yamano visited the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and exchanged views with the Minister, H.E. Dr. Juma bin Ahmed Al Kaabi. Several issues were discussed such as implementation of the agricultural cooperation projects, and the feasibility of other projects in the field of disposal of waste and urban control under the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

　　Meanwhile, Ms. Yamano had a courtesy call to H.M. KING Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa. She expressed JICE would like to develop the agricultural cooperation further, especially hydroponic culture, and also to cooperate other projects such as urban planning and urban control utilizing effective and advanced agriculture.

　　Ms. Yamano also visited Tamkeen, the think tank and Human Resource Development organization in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and discussed the planning and implementation of the projects for improving the employment rate of young people in fisheries and agricultural industry.

　　The Kingdom of Bahrain has been trying to reform from the “conventional” agriculture to the modern one by applying the cutting-edge agricultural technique including hydroponic culture. Based on the signed MoU, JICE will continue to discuss with the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, the Kingdom of Bahrain to forward the concrete planning of projects to solve the issue.

Reference
■Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/page4e_000022.html
■Gulf Daily News（ PDF/3.4MB）