The technical cooperation agreement on disaster and waste management between the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (UMT) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was signed with a ceremony held at the UMT headquarters.
Within the scope of the "Local Authorities Capacity Building for Waste Management, Pollution Control and Disaster Management and Response Project" to be implemented with the participation of 90 pilot municipalities to be selected from different regions in Türkiye, it is aimed to increase the institutional capacity of local governments in the fields of solid waste management and disaster management and to rehabilitation of the urban environment.
Şahin: "We are signing these to take protective and preventive measures"
Speaking at the ceremony, UMT President and Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin reminded the cooperation between Türkiye and Japan in the fight against disasters in the past and noted that she was pleased with the relations of the two countries based on solidarity and friendship.
Underlining that a new world has been established with the pandemic, President Şahin stated that “Our government signed the Paris Agreement to implement a new sustainable development model and our relevant ministries have done the necessary work. The biggest task here is with local governments and municipalities. Now we know that earthquakes do not kill, buildings do, floods do not, but wrong urban planning does. Fire, flood, earthquake are all consequences. We are signing these to take protective and preventive measures."
Suzuki: "We can say that the two countries add a new symbolic meaning to the traditional friendship relations"
Expressing that it is foreseen to launch four projects in total, including this project within the scope of the agreement, Japan's Ambassador to Ankara Kazuhiro Suzuki stated that “Among the development agencies of developed countries, JICA has the upper hand in the field of technical cooperation, especially in the field of human resources training. In addition to that, Japan has exceptional technologies in fields of disaster prevention, medicine and health. Japan's large-scale contribution to the training of human resources in Türkiye through these technologies, we can say that it also adds a new symbol meaning for the traditional friendship relations of the two countries.”
Önal: "This project will be a new concrete example of strong solidarity and cooperation between Türkiye and Japan"
Starting his speech by conveying the greetings of Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Sedat Önal pointed out that the world is facing serious environmental challenges, especially climate change, and indicated that "This project will be a new concrete example of strong solidarity and cooperation between Türkiye and Japan.”
Noting that the signing of the declaration, which raises the relations between Türkiye and Japan to the level of strategic partnership, will be the 10th anniversary next year, Önal reminded that the declaration was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe and, commemorate Abe who lost his life by a tragic assassination and made significant contributions to Türkiye-Japan friendship. Stating that they are pleased with the excellence and continuous progress of the relations between the two countries at the political level, Önal said, "The full common political will to improve our cooperation was confirmed once again in the meetings of our President and Minister with their Japanese counterparts in September."
Recalling that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a 'net zero emission' target for 2053 in Türkiye and declared a 'Green Development Revolution', Önal added that work continues with concrete projects in line with this target.
After the opening speeches, Secretary General of the UMT Dr. Hayri Baraçlı and JICA Türkiye Office Head Yuko Tanaka signed the Memorandum of Understanding.