In a meeting with Deputy Governor-General of East Azarbaijan Province, Aikawa said that he had travelled to the province in coordination with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to see the process of implementing Urmia Lake restoration programs.
Referring to the cooperation of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with the restoration program, the ambassador said that good efforts have been done and he was pleased to see the lake is being restored.
He said that East Azarbaijan Province has good capacities of tourism and Japan is very interested in expanding tourism ties with the northeastern Iranian province.
UNDP representative in Iran Claudio Providas said that the UN agency has had many cooperation programs with Japan to revive Urmia Lake and all programs are in progress in the best possible way.
He stated that Iran was affected by climate change and this cannot be changed, but there can be programs to elevate local people’s awareness of the situation.
He also said that the UNDP has implemented several programs in local communities around Urmia Lake and then it would be going to digitalize the marketing process for local agricultural products.
East Azarbaijan Province Deputy Governor-General Javad Rahmati said that the province is one of the greatest provinces of Iran with over 4 million people living in the province.
He also underlined that the province has close economic ties with neighboring countries Azerbaijan Republic, Armenia and Turkey.
Alternative livelihood and changing agricultural pattern in the lands around Urmia Lake was among plans the current administration implemented, Rahmati said.
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