Kazakhstan’s water initiatives discussed in Beijing
A roundtable, titled “Water: Sustainable Development and Water Initiatives,” was held at the Kazakhstan Cultural Center in Beijing and brought together leading experts and officials from Kazakhstan and China, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
In his opening remarks, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to China Shakhrat Nuryshev noted the global nature of water challenges and the need for coordinated international efforts to address them. He emphasized the particular importance of water security for Kazakhstan, given that a significant share of the country’s water resources originates outside its borders.
Against this backdrop, Nuryshev highlighted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s initiatives to establish a Center for the Study of Water Issues under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kazakhstan and an International Water Organization under the auspices of the United Nations.
“These initiatives are intended to contribute to developing joint solutions in response to water-related challenges,” Nuryshev said.
He added that the experience accumulated by Kazakhstan and China through cooperation in the water sector provides a foundation for moving their strategic partnership to a new level.
“Kazakhstan and China have a unique opportunity to jointly shape a new model of water cooperation based on mutual trust and good-neighborly relations, while making use of advances in modern science and technology,” Nuryshev said.
Kazakhstani diplomats presented the country’s international water initiatives during the event. Didar Temenov, department head at Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, outlined the proposal to establish a water organization under the UN, while Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to the SCO, Rakhymzhan Rakhimov, presented the concept for creating an SCO Center for the Study of Water Issues.
Chinese experts, meanwhile, shared their experience in water-saving technologies and expressed readiness to expand international cooperation in the sector.
“We look forward to practical cooperation with foreign partners, including Kazakhstan, in water-saving irrigation, digitalization, the use of reclaimed water and drought monitoring,” said He Fan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Water Resources at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.
Earlier, Qazinform reported Kazakhstan and China consider opening a vocational college to train water industry specialists.
