DUSHANBE, April 7, 2014, Asia-Plus – On Monday April 6, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov met here with Mr. Wilhelm Meier, Special Envoy of Switzerland on Water Issues, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
In the course of the talks, Aslov and Meier reportedly discussed the implementation of the decisions made at the Basel Conference on the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Central Asia that took place in November last year.
The two reportedly exchanged views on regional water cooperation in Central Asia.
Tajik minister also informed Swiss diplomat about preparations for the high-level international conference on the implementation of the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”, 2005-2015, which is expected to take place in the Tajik capital from June 9-11 this year.
We will recall that integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been defined by the Global Water Partnership (GWP) as “a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.”
The purpose of the Basel Conference on IWRM in Central Asia was to outline that hydraulic schemes are key factors of economic prosperity and of sustainable development in this millennium. After discussing various fields of application of hydraulic schemes, the present situation in the world was presented with regard to dams and hydropower as well as irrigation.
