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Tajikistan's President urges to draw road map to resolve water supply problems

The roadmap should take into consideration existing financial resources and incorporate technological advances

DUSHANBE, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon called for drawing "a road map" to resolve water supply problems in the region. He came up with the initiative on Tuesday, at the opening of the high-level international conference on water cooperation, organized with the UN's financial support.

The President believes it is necessary "to take into account a range of factors related to climate changes in the world and particularly in Tajikistan, as well as population growth and the needs for water resources." Addressing the conference participants, he said: "Only in the past few decades, Tajikistan's glaciers which are one of the key water sources in the region have lost one-third of their volume and this trends has been gaining momentum."

The Tajik leader also drew attention to the "increasing number of disasters related to water resources which cause tremendous economic and moral damage."

The roadmap should take into consideration existing financial resources and incorporate technological advances. In his address, the head of state also expressed hope that the conference on water cooperation "would lend a new impulse to stepping up efforts in these areas."

Delegations from over 100 countries, six deputies of the UN Secretary General, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States /CIS/ Sergei Lebedev and heads of large financial institutions take part in the conference which will run for two days.

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