Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, Abdelkader Amara, called on Japan to invest in the energy sector in Morocco, particularly in renewable energy. Amara, who met, Friday in Rabat, with Chairman of the Association of African Economy and Development Japan (AFRECO), Tetsuro Yano, on a current a working visit to the Kingdom, said that investment opportunities in the energy sector, and specifically in renewable energy, offer a new prospect to strengthen this partnership. “We are increasingly interested in Japanese investments the field of energy in the context of an enlarged cooperation that includes sub-Saharan Africa,” he said, welcoming the excellent Moroccan-Japanese relations. For his part, Yano, also a former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Japan, hailed the “long-standing ties” between the two countries, adding that a Moroccan-Japanese agreement on investment is being finalized. He also highlighted the Japan-Morocco Forum which will be held in Rabat in December 2014, and which will further strengthen bilateral