Uzbekistan attends water and good neighborhood conference in Berlin

During his speech at the conference, the head of the delegation of Uzbekistan said currently international community is ending realization of the Millennium Development Goals and adopting new global guides – Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) till 2030. The water is one of key elements in the SDG. He underlined that one of 17 new goals is focused on accessibility, rational use and preserving of water resources.

The Uzbek official said that the Central Asian states cannot achieve none of these goals without rational and fair use limited water resources and ensure worthy life to over 60 million people of the region, where the water is a key element of creation of condition for health of population, their employment, preserve ecosystem and all their elements, food industry, social-economic development of all states of the region.

The head of the Uzbek delegation said that Uzbekistan adheres to constructive and constructive cooperation in issues of using trans-border water resources. “We are confident that rules of equitable and reasonable utilization of transboundary water resources and not to harm the interests of all states, located along the Basin, enshrined in international conventions, should be bases for joint use of water resources,” he said.

“In this regard, we stand firmly on our position that the construction of large hydraulic structures in the upper reaches of transboundary rivers, which could lead to a total water shortages, devastating environmental, economic and social consequences, should be considered through the prism of the universally recognized norms and principles of international law, taking into account possible risks of negative impact on the entire basin of the Aral Sea,” the Uzbek official said.

He said that it is necessary to preserve ecologic and water balance of transboundary rivers’ regime. Realization of large-scale projects at water arteries of the region, especially upper reaches, should be conducted only with holding independent, professional and international expertise with mandatory agreeing the project with bordering states.

Uzbekistan, being active participant of the global nature protection policy, uses principle of sustainable development and creation of favourable environment for well-being of population, he said.

He said that Uzbekistan realized wide-scale programmes and projects for over US$2 billion in last 10 years, which were directed at rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, introduction of water-saving technologies, development of system of integrated management of water resources, diversification of agriculture, etc.

Abdusamatov underlined that thanks to adopted measures Uzbekistan decreased water offtake by 20% - from 64 to 51 billion cubic meters a year in last 24 years and per capita – almost twice. The land-improvement works were conducted at 1.2 million irrigated lands. He added that introduction of modern agriculture methodologies helped to double production in agro-industrial complex.

He recalled that International Fund for Saving Aral Sea was created in 1993 and it became a platform for strengthening of regional cooperation on social-economic and ecological rehabilitation of Aral Sea Basin. He noted that Uzbekistan hosted an international conference on mitigating consequences of the Aral Sea Basin. Within the event, Uzbekistan signed agreements for realization of regional and national projects for US$3 billion, which will allow to solve the most acute problems of the Aral Sea Basin.

Uzbekistan committed to further development of cooperation and partnership in the framework of the “Berlin Process” - an initiative aimed at providing technical assistance to ensure the rational use of water resources in Central Asia.

Bakhtiyor Abdusamatov underlined that Uzbekistan believes that the projects, developed and realized jointly with international partners, should be directed at achieving concrete practical results, taking into account interests of all sides.

The Uzbek side is ready to consider participation in the projects, offered within the third phase of the Water Initiative of Germany, taking into account interests and principle approaches of Uzbekistan, he said. Bakhtiyor Abdusamatov said Uzbekistan is open for dialogue and discussions, offered to realization of practical measures within the upcoming programme.

He also shared proposals of Uzbekistan, which should be priority in future joint projects. He said that measures to mitigate negative consequences of Aral catastrophe should be adopted.

In particular, it is necessary to implement projects on reconstruction of irrigation and drainage system, creation and development of existing water reservoirs at the delta of Amudarya. He said that it is necessary to strengthen potential of regional institutes, including the International Fund for Saving Aral Sea and its structural bodies, development of material-technical and cadre base of basin water organizations.

The Uzbek officials underlined that it is necessary to develop automated system of water resources monitoring and strengthen technological and instrumental base of the state monitoring services, equipping them with modern methods and tools of water metering.

He called to realize projects on reconstruction of water metering facilities and equipment along the transboundary rivers in the region and introduce water saving irrigation technologies and provide drinking water to population of Central Asia.

In conclusion, it was noted that a pragmatic and realistic approach should continue to be central in the development and implementation of programmes of “Water Initiative for Central Asia”.