OSCE Centre co-organises Water Forum in Kazakhstan
ALMATY, Kazakhstan 4 November 2014 – The first national forum on effective water resources management and co-operation between the government, universities and industries began today at the Kazakh-German University in Almaty.
The event was co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana and Kazakh-German University in co-operation with Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry. It brought together some 80 representatives of the central and local authorities, academic and research institutions and the business community from across the country as well as international and non-governmental organizations, including high-level officials from the international and regional financial institutions and development agencies.
Participants from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, World Bank, European Commission, USAID, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, GIZ, International Foundation of the Aral Sea and the Central Asian Regional Environmental Centre as well as Kazakhstan’s government officials, leading researchers and experts will exchange information on their programmatic activities aimed at enhancing co-operation in water management and addressing various challenges in this regard.
They will also acquaint the academic and business communities with best international practices and relevant technologies. Students from ten leading universities of Kazakhstan will present to private companies 20 projects on effective water management developed by them for a specially organized exhibition.
"Water governance as part of the integrated vision of security was identified by the forthcoming Serbian Chairmanship as a priority for the OSCE in 2015. At the same time, Kazakhstan has declared 2015 the Year of Water,” said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana. “We view it as an opportunity to further promote integrated water resources management and enhance water co-operation at the national and regional levels based on best international practices, norms and standards," she added.
Ambassador-at-Large and National Coordinator on Shanghai Co-operation Organization activity, Shahrat Nuryshev, said: “Transboundary protection of water resources is a factor in shaping regional relations, which largely depend on the level of trust, peace and security in the region.”
Professor Johan Gerlach, President of the Kazakh-German University said: "By this Forum on Integrated Water Resources Management ‘Government-University-Industry’ we plan to establish a permanent platform for combining ‘theory’ with ‘practice,’ where ‘theory’ acts on behalf of the research and development sector, including academic institutions, and ‘practice’ represents the public and private sectors."
In this connection, the participants of the forum are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the state, universities and the private sector to set up a co-operation platform aimed to exchange information, support research and development and provide job opportunities for young specialists in water management.
The event is part of the Centre’s activities aimed to promote efficient water management and facilitation of transboundary dialogue on water issues.