International Water Assessment Center may be opened in Kazakhstan

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM A meeting for the national political dialogue on the water policy in Kazakhstan is underway in Astana, the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry's press service reports.

The meeting is attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, government bodies concerned, Head of the Secretariat of the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes Francesca Bernardini, experts from Central Asian countries, international experts, international organizations, and many others.

Within the framework of the meeting, the parties will discuss proposals on strengthening the transboundary water cooperation between the Central Asian countries, and the opening of the International Water Assessment Center in Kazakhstan.

They are to consider a new initiative for the regional dialogue on the Central Asia water policy, which will be presented at the Eighth Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes in 2018.

"Opening the office in Astana will be another step toward enhancing the effectiveness of the regional dialogue and extending the water cooperation with international organizations. Operating in Kazakhstan, the Center will let the country become an international research center for regional and global water issues and will make its contribution to the world community," the ministry's representative said, making a speech.

The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes was signed in Helsinki, Finland, on 17th March 1992 and entered into force in 1996. Kazakhstan acceded to the Convention on 23rd October 2000. The parties to the Convention also include such neighboring countries as Russia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

 

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