Serik Bekmaganbetov urges international cooperation to save Caspian Sea from Aral Sea's fate

The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) seeks to cooperate with Azerbaijan in sharing experience on combating shallowing, IFAS Deputy Chairman Serik Bekmaganbetov said in an exclusive statement to Report.

According to him, the technologies and methods that the organization will study and successfully implement can also be used by the Caspian littoral states, including Azerbaijan.

"Our goal is to preserve water bodies, so as an IFAS official, I am interested in strengthening cooperation and partnership with Azerbaijan," he said, emphasizing that this is a matter of survival.

He also thanked Azerbaijan for the high level of organization of the COP29 climate conference: "This is the third COP I'm participating in, I have something to compare it with, everything is thought out to the smallest detail."

Speaking about the implementation of projects and initiatives within COP29, the deputy chairman noted that IFAS was able to sign a memorandum of understanding with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), opening up even more opportunities for international cooperation.

"We have permanent partners, but we would like to expand our connections," he noted.

According to Bekmaganbetov, the organization has many points of common interest with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, and this strengthens cooperation on issues of the Caspian Sea's shallowing. "We need to do everything in our power to prevent the Caspian Sea from sharing the fate of the Aral Sea," he concluded.