The Philippines, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has signed a three-year cooperation agreement with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to promote and implement cooperative activities toward sustainable mining.

“We are gradually entering into a new realm and climbing greater heights when it comes to mining with this cooperation with the Japanese government,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said.

The agreement, he explained, aims to strengthen ties in the mining industries between the Philippines and Japan through regular dialogues and cooperation in the areas of mining policy on exploration, development and operations. The memorandum of cooperation or MoC also includes information sharing on supply-demand trends and best practices of sustainable development and operation in mining.

The two countries also agreed to support each other in promoting sustainable development in their respective mining and mineral resources sectors.

Also listed as among the two countries’ areas of concern were security in exploration, development and operation of mines; appropriate environmental impact assessment; and improvement of investment environment to attract more investors to the mining sector.

The MoC was signed on 16 August 2019 in Tokyo by Minister Yoshihiko Isozaki of METI and DENR Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs Jonas Leones on Cimatu’s behalf.

In line with the MoC, the country’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC) also signed another memorandum of understanding (MoU) on environmental cooperation covering fiscal year 2019.

MGB and JOGMEC agreed to undertake measures to protect the environment and rehabilitate the areas affected by mining operations, as provided for in the MOC signed by the DENR and METI. The MoU was signed by MGB acting director Wilfredo Moncano and JOGMEC executive vice president Hajime Ikeda.

A total of 15 personnel from MGB’s central office and regional offices will be sent to Japan to undergo JOGMEC’s 11-day training on mine pollution control and environmental policies.