At a meeting of the Heads of the founding States of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea in Dushanbe on 15 September, President Emomali Rahmon highly appreciated the thirty-year activity of IFAS, but believes there is still much work to be done.
“This is especially important taking into account the population in the region, ensuring economic development and combating the negative impact of climate change on water resources. The rapid melting of glaciers and an increase in the number of natural disasters, floods, droughts, mudslides pose serious threats. All these challenges require consolidation of our actions,” the Khovar news agency quotes Emomali Rahmon’s speech.
“Lack of water, drought, mudslides and landslides, which we witness for several years in a row, have a negative impact not only on agriculture, but also on the social situation in general. It is obvious that we need to strengthen our cooperation and coordination in order to counter these challenges and threats, first of all, this cooperation in the water and energy sector,” he said.
President Emomali Rahmon said that creating a separate platform to regulate energy issues would be beneficial for regulating both water and energy issues within the same institution, as they are closely interconnected.
“To ensure the rational and efficient use of needs, more coordinated actions are needed, as well as the modernization of the relevant infrastructure. We need to join efforts in this direction,” he told.
Rahmon recalled that last year at the Cholpon-Ata summit, the heads of state instructed to create a meeting of energy ministers to address such issues.
“It is gratifying that in the process of IFAS reform, energy issues were included in the fund’s mandate, it is proposed to create a separate commission on energy issues within its framework,” he said.
President Emomali Rahmon, the current Chair of IFAS, pledged Tajikistan’s constructive support for improving the organization’s structure and legal framework.
“Our approach is to understand that the organization must meet current realities, be able to withstand new challenges and threats, and fully meet the interests of the founding states,” he stressed. ///nCa, 15 September 2023
#Aralsea, #IFAS, #International_Fund_for_Saving_the_Aral_Sea, #Tajikistan, #Turkmenistan, #Kazakhstan, #Kyrgyzstan, #Uzbekistan, #CentralAsia, #Emomali_Rahmon