RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Engineer Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli and Japanese Minister of Environment Koizumi Shinjiro signed virtually a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance environmental protection.

The MoU calls for greater cooperation in promoting environmental protection in accordance with laws and regulations in both countries and seeks to protect and preserve the environment through improving water quality, sanitation, marine protection, and combating land degradation and desertification.

The agreement also focuses on the planning of coastal zones to protect the infrastructure, including roads, residential areas, industrial complexes, desalination plants, and ports, as well as developing an early warning system to reduce environmental disasters resulting from extreme weather phenomena.

The Japanese environment minister commended Saudi Arabia's pioneering roles during its presidency of G20 meetings this year and its success in managing these meetings effectively despite the circumstances accompanying the coronavirus pandemic. He highlighted the Kingdom's role in the joint statement made by the environment ministers of 20 countries, which is the first of its kind in the history of the G20 meetings. The Japanese minister also lauded Saudi Arabia's pioneering environmental initiatives.