Rabat – King Mohammed VI sent congratulations to Japanese Emperor Akihito and his wife Empress Michiko on the 28-year anniversary of Akihito’s ascension to the throne, according to the state-run news agency the Maghreb Arab Press (MAP). The King’s cable, sent Monday, praised the “friendship and mutual appreciation” between the two countries.
Since Japan’s formal recognition of Morocco in 1956, the two countries have had a positive relationship.
Japan and Morocco opened embassies in each other’s countries within the next ten years. Since then, Japan has often looked to Morocco as an important African partner both for trade and solving geopolitical issues in North Africa.
Since the 1990s, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has also invested in training for road maintenance, agricultural machinery improvement, micro fisheries development, port management, and maternal health care in Morocco.
In late June both countries pledged to fight environmental problems in the Maghreb region by forming the “Morocco-Japan-Africa tripartite cooperation.”
In addition, Japan has also invested over MAD 28 billion in loans for Moroccan economic growth and business development since the end of 2015. Japan was also a co-organizer alongside the UN, World Bank, and African Union Commission of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Tokyo in October.
