President of the Republic of Tajikistan
Opening ceremony of the International High-Level Conference on Water Cooperation came to an end
The International High-Level Conference on Water Cooperation has launched its work in Dushanbe.
More than 900 high-ranking guests, well-known specialists and experts from over 70 countries of the world and representatives of numerous regional and international organizations have arrived in Tajikistan for participation in the Conference.
The Conference has been opened by Prime Minister of Tajikistan Oqil Oqilov and the first speech has been given to the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.
Head of state Emomali Rahmon welcomed the participants of the conference to Tajikistan and expressed his interesting views on many measures and actions taken by the Government of Tajikistan and the world community in the water sphere. Mentioning about the internationally recognized initiatives of Tajikistan, including “International Year of Fresh Water (2003)”, International Decade of Action “Water for Life” (2005-2015) and “International Year of Water Cooperation, 2013”, the Tajik President proposed to declare from 2015 a new international decade of actions in the water sphere.
Moreover, it was proposed to establish in Dushanbe an International Center on Water Cooperation and Diplomacy.
In connection with urgent water issues in Central Asia, head of state Emomali Rahmon stressed: “Tajikistan has always been in favor of mutually beneficial cooperation and good neighborly relations. We understand clearly that only civilized cooperation and political will can ensure for all of us a progress in this direction. Tajikistan is completely ready for such cooperation”.
Afterwards, the President of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly John Ashe recited the message by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Moreover, the UN Under-Secretary General Wu Hongbo, Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Jantoro Satybaldyev, Prime Minister of Mozambique Alberto Vaquina, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, UN Under-Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, Special Representative of the World Bank Mahmud Muhidin, President of the World Water Council Benedito Braga, and the President of organization “Women for Water Partnership” Alice Bouman-Dentener have spoken at the plenary session of the Conference.
