Ambassador: Japan contributes $3.683m to Lake Orumiyeh

Japan’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Iran, Hiroyasu Kobayashi, said on Wednesday that Japan will donate 436 million Japanese Yen ($3.683 million) to FAO for “the Integrated Program for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Lake Orumiyeh Basin”, AVA Diplomatic reports.

‘Due to this critical situation of the Lake Orumiyeh and based on the results of the meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Abe and Iranian President Dr. Rouhani, the Government of Japan has decided to donate 436 million Japanese Yen, equivalent to 3 million 683 thousand and 8 hundred USD, to FAO Iran Office regarding “the Integrated Program for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Lake Orumiyeh Basin,” said the Japanese Ambassador.

Kobayashi made the remark in a statement to signing ceremony of the exchange of notes between FAO and the government of Japan on the “Integrated Program for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Lake Orumiyeh Basin.”

He said, ‘As you may all know, the water of Lake Orumiyeh has been decreasing over the past 20 years, making it a hyper salty lake and turning the dried areas into salt crystals. As local people inhale the salt that the wind spreads, their health is threatened and the agricultural products around the Lake are also affected.’

He said environmental assistance is one of the most important fields in the Japanese foreign policy.

Therefore, he added, the Japanese Government has been supporting the Iranian Government in environmental fields for a long time. Considering the fact that these kinds of global challenges cannot be dealt with by a single country, efforts at the regional level or by international community as a whole is required, announced the envoy.

Centering on the Lake Orumiyeh project, the Government of Japan is also conducting other various projects in preservation of environment in Iran through JICA, said Kobayashi.

‘The Government of Japan intends to continue its various projects in environmental fields and we hope that the result of this cooperation will be to the benefit of not only Iran but of the whole region. To make this hope come true, we need the cooperation of all of you,’ he concluded.