Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 24
Trend:
Creating the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) in 1993 was a wise decision, said Tajik President Emomali Rahmon at the meeting of the Council of the Heads of the IFAS Founding States, held Aug. 24 in Turkmenistan, Tajik agency Avesta reports citing the press service of the president of Tajikistan.
President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev took part in the summit.
"Thanks to joint efforts, within the framework of IFAS, we managed to attract the attention of the global community to the problems of the Aral Sea and to establish cooperation with regional and international organizations and donor countries, to direct funds to the implementation of projects and programs to solve the Aral problem," Rahmon noted.
The president stressed a number of problems related to climate change and added that only in recent decades Tajikistan has lost more than 30 percent of its glaciers.
Taking into account the rapid increase in water consumption in the region, the head of state announced the initiative of Tajikistan on the effective use of fresh water reserves of the Sarez Lake to improve the drinking water provision to the countries of the region.
The president also underlined the need to develop the hydropower, since it is one of the main sources of renewable energy, which contributes to the development of the green economy.