Kazakhstan, Switzerland focus on water management issues
Minister Abdrakhmanov noted a high level of political and economic partnership between the two countries and stressed that Switzerland is one of the major trade and investment partners of Kazakhstan, bilateral trade turnover accounted for 2.8 billion USD in 2016, Kazinform has learned from the Kazakh MFA's press service.
In the context of interaction within the UN, Abdrakhmanov emphasised the relevance of initiatives put forward by President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly including the proposals to convene a conference designed to reaffirm the principles of the international law, transfer of 1 percent of military budget of countries to the UN Development Fund as well as to establish a unified global network to counter terrorism.
Didier Burkhalter highly appreciated the role of Kazakhstan at the international arena including within the Astana process aimed at settling the situation in Syria. He said that Switzerland is ready for active cooperation with Kazakhstan on a wide range of regional issues including sustainable use of water resources in Central Asia.
The same day in Astana, heads of foreign ministries of Kazakhstan and Switzerland made a speech at the Third International Conference titled "Blue peace Central Asia: Dialogue for 2030 - Water Security and Inclusive Growth" attended by experts from Central Asia and Switzerland.
According to Minister Abdrakhmanov, Central Asia presents a united front against many problems of the region and the entire world. "We observe positive dynamics in the dialog development in the region on water resources challenges and welcome Switzerland joining this process as it has an extensive experience in this issue," he added.
Water deficit is considered as one of ten major global challenges. On that basis, the main objective of Kazakhstan is providing water for the population and industry due to the use of water saving technologies, increasing the efficiency of water management as well as guaranteeing security of water ecosystems.
Burkhalter pointed out that headwaters of many European rivers begin in Switzerland and expressed readiness of the country to share the experience with countries of Central Asia on issues related to increasing the quality of water management.
"We intend to analyse the process, intensify a political dialog and assist in addressing water issues in the region," stressed the Swiss Foreign Minister.
Previous conferences with participation of Switzerland and Central Asian countries on sustainable use of water resources were held in November 2014 in Basel and in September 2016 in Almaty.
Didier Burkhalter also visited the Swiss pavilion at the EXPO-2017 exhibition, in which the alpine country takes an active part.