AKIPRESS.COM - The EU reiterated its continued support to water sector reforms in Kazakhstan and in the Central Asian region.

This was announced at the meeting linked to the so-called National Policy Dialogue on Water (NPD) on June 14, the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan said.

The participants discussed the next phase of the WECOOP project which is expected to start in the second half of 2019. WECOOP will support priority policy packages in the water sector to be identified in consultation with the Kazakh authorities.

A number of issues were raised requiring the interaction and coordination of all stakeholders. Specifically, the participants discussed Kazakhstan’s cooperation on transboundary groundwaters, ensuring the safety of hydraulic structures in Kazakhstan, prevention of accidental water pollution, and water as a factor of economic growth and security in Central Asia.

The meeting was chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and organised with the support of the European Union (EU) through the project ”EU-Central Asia Enhanced Regional Cooperation on Environment, Climate Change and Water” (WECOOP) and the Water Initiatives Center (WIC).

Support to reducing pressure on water and energy resources has been identified as one of the key issues under the partnering for resilience priority of the new EU-Central Asia Strategy as adopted in the Joint Communication by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on 15 May 2019.