Mexico to Seek Collaboration, Partnership and Innovation at 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, March 16 /PRNewswire/ — The 5th World Water Forum, held
triennially as the world’s largest water event, to be organized in Istanbul,
Turkey March 16-22, has begun with the opening ceremony with participants from
192 countries, including three princes, three presidents, five prime
ministers, over 90 ministers, 63 mayors and more than 23,000 attendees. Prince
of Japan Naruhito Kotaishi, Prime Minister of Morocco Abbas Al Fassi, United
Nations Assistant Secretary General Sha Zukang, the President of the World
Water Council Loic Fauchon, Prince Albert II of Monaco, William Alexander of
Orange and Turkish President Abdullah Gul were among the high profile guests
at the opening.

Conagua, the Mexican National Water Commission, also the organizer and
host of the 4th World Water Forum, will be sharing the most important
programs, projects underway and progress during the 5th World Water Forum.
Mexico will also seek greater collaboration, partnership and innovation with
other countries to make better use of their water resources and protect the
availability of the resource for future generations.

Highlighting some tremendous changes in Mexico’s water agenda just in the
past three years, Luege Tamargo said, “The increased public sensitivity has
been verified by the two-fold budget expansion of the government, major
infrastructure projects and international cooperation. All these developments
combined under the umbrella of Vision 2030 are apparently leading us to our
ultimate destination of Water Security. Today, I am also glad to witness that
all the stakeholders in the water issue agree on the need for support from
developed countries to developing ones, for a better and sustainable future.”

In his speech, the President of World Water Council Loic Fauchon underlined the importance of a holistic and united approach to water
management by the international community. Fauchon drew attention to the
relationship among global economic crisis, climate change and the water issue.

Fauchon also called the international public opinion to duty by saying,
“Everyday we need more quality water for diminishing the risk of sanitary
bombs, as the result of water processing systems which are inadequate. We need
to recognize that technical solutions are not enough to face global water
challenges and we need political agreement and consensus among stakeholders.”

In that context, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said, “Humanity has
entered a new era of challenges. Water is no longer considered to be an issue
of the environmentalists as it used to be in the near past. Now it is
everybody’s concern. In this critical age, water should be a bridging force
for the nations of the world.”

To share all this important information and experience, Mexico will be
participating in 26 of the 100 sessions to be conducted at the international
gathering, where other Mexican institutions and state governments will also be
attending panels during the forum and will hold a special press meeting on
Wednesday, March 18. At the press meeting, Luege Tamargo will cover topics
such as what Mexico has learned from the 4th World Water Forum and major
projects regarding water management.

Mexico in the 5th World Water Forum

Mexico will preside over the gathering and take part in a number of
different subject and discussion sessions relating to climate change,
management and prevention of hurricane damage, irrigation for agriculture,
making use of rain water, reassignment of rights resulting from payment for
water rights (Prodder), payment for environmental services, the case of water
distribution in the Lerma Chapala Basin, water management in border zones
between Mexico and the United States, as well as a variety of representative
local projects relating to water.

In due course, it will also introduce a variety of water programs and
projects, including PNH 2007-2012, the National Program of Territorial
Ordinance, and the Program of Water Sustainability for the Valley of Mexico,
considered one of the most important at the global level. This program will
make it possible to restore the sustainability and viability of Mexico’s
capital, for which the Mexican government is contemplating an investment of
more than 36 billion pesos in the next 5 years.

The World Water Forum is an initiative of the World Water Council whose
purpose is to raise awareness of matters concerning water resources throughout
the world. At the request of the government of Turkey, Mexico, through
Conagua, has provided advice concerning the organization of the forum, which
will be receiving experts from countries all over the world to discuss and
analyze a variety of subjects over the course of the week.

In 2006, when the 4th World Water Forum was held in Mexico, the slogan for
the event was “Local actions for a global challenge.” Three years later and
in Turkey now, experts as well as governments and world figures will have as
their main slogan “Reconcile differences through water.”

Among the array of topics to be analyzed during the working sessions of
the 5th World Water Forum are the importance of global changes and risk
management. Similarly, there will be discussion of ways of advancing Human
Development and the Millennium Development Goals established by the United
Nations.

In addition, there will be a space for analyzing the management and
protection of water resources and their supply systems to meet the needs of
people and the environment. In addition, the 5th Forum will address
governance, management, financing, education, knowledge and capacity building.

The head of Conagua noted that the gathering will also be attended by some
300 companies from the global water sector, which will provide a major
opportunity to link works projects with financing arrangements.

SOURCE Comision Nacional de Agua