The Japan Ambassador to the Maldives, Kazumi Endo has said that they will provide all assistance needed in developing the fisheries sector in the Maldives.
The Japanese Ambassador made the remarks at a meeting held at SHE building today to formulate the fisheries master plan. The meeting was conducted by Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture in association with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
At the ceremony held to initiate the meeting, the Japanese Ambassador said it is prominent to develop the fisheries sector of the Maldives. Ambassador Kazumi Endo stated that it is a great example of the strong relation of both countries. Furthermore, he noted that it is important to develop the fisheries sector in the Maldives in order to maintain the economy of the country.
"But fisheries remain a large source of employement, especially for the residents of outer atolls, largest source of physical exports from Maldives, one of the few local industries supplying the tourist resorts and major supply for local market," the Ambassador said.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Project Director of MASPLAN, Zaha Waheed said that they got useful results from the survey carried out to sustain the fisheries sector in Maldives.He said that the survey works are still on process.
"So much of knowledge has been gained from the technical pilot projects as well as with the understanding of where we'd like our fisheries sector to head. So the major project was aimed in preparing a plan for the fisheries sector which will be utilized for the future years for the Maldives," Zaha said.
The meeting was attended by officials from relevant institutions. Discussions would revolve around deep sea fishing, reef fishing, diversity of reef ecosystems, reproduction and development of marine life and fish processing. Fisheries Ministry does the works of the formulating the fisheries master plan in association with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).