A Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on environmental conservation between Myanmar and Japan is expected to be inked in early February, according to Hla Maung Thein, Director General of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.
Officials at the ministry have already presented the matter to the Union Government, and the MoC is envisaged to come to realisation soon upon the expected approval of the Union Government in later January, said the Director General at the Japan-Myanmar Environment Week Workshop on Waste Management held in Nay Pyi Taw on January 16.
Myanmar has planned to sign a MoC with Japan to instigate a framework so as to collaborate on environmentrelated issues between the environment ministries of the two sides in the future, said Ohn Win, Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, at the workshop.
The memorandum will pave the way for Myanmar to enhance its activities on air quality monitoring and management, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and water quality maintenance, said Hla Maung Thein. The day before the Japan-Myanmar Environment Week Workshop on Waste Management, Myanmar and Japan held policy talks related to the issue of environmental conservation between the two countries in order to strengthen collaboration in the areas of environmental conservation. The prioritised cooperation sectors resulted from the discussions scheduled to be implemented in 2018-2019 will be announced through a joint-statement, according to the meeting participants. Myanmar is also on its way of developing a national-level and city-level waste management strategy and action plan in cooperation with government agencies, non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations.
