A water treatment and quality monitoring facility for textile factories in Mandalay will be the first project Japan will fund under its environmental cooperation agreement with Myanmar, officials told The Myanmar Times.

The experimental project will be built in Wundwin township, where there are a lot of textile factories, according to the memorandum of cooperation that is expected to be signed by the two countries early next month, said U Hla Maung Thein, director general of the Environmental Department at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Conservation (MONREC).

MONREC and the MOEJ held the first Japan-Myanmar environmental policy dialogue on January 15 in Nay Pyi Taw. They agreed to cooperate in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from factories and promoting the use of environmental-friendly technologies.

U Hla Maung Thein, director general of the Environment Department at MONREC, said the agreement between Myanmar and Japan could be signed next month.

He said the prime targets of environmental cooperation between Myanmar and Japan are improvement of air quality, reducing global warming and climate change, conservation of biodiversity, and water quality control.

He said the two countries will also cooperate in waste management, planning, environmental law and practices, and promoting private sector investment in tackling pollution and contamination by factories.