On 30/11/2010 His Excellency Dr. Ali Sindi, KRG Minister of Planning, received a delegation from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), presided by Mr. Iwakiri Satoshi, Deputy Director General, Middle East and Europe Department of JICA.

His Excellency welcomed the delegation and expressed appreciation to the Japanese Government’s continuous support to the Kurdistan Region in various areas such as delivering training courses in Japan and implementing projects. H.E. emphasized the importance of this cooperation and the reiterated MoP’s readiness to offer any support to facilitate the works of JICA.

Mr. Satoshi briefed the Minister about JICA’s activities and their important projects in the electricity, water and agriculture sectors, to which the Japanese government committed over 600 million USDs. He added that JICA is aiming to continue and expand its works. Mr. Satoshi commended the effective cooperation mechanism applied by the MoP, which benefits both sides.

Finally H.E. the Minister of Planning requested JICA to concentrate more on the higher education courses and increase their number and quality in addition to the short capacity building courses provided by JICA.