AKIPRESS.COM - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has called on foreign investors to actively participate in ensuring an efficient use of water resources in Tajikistan for the benefit of the peoples of the Central Asian region, Rahmon said on Sunday in his statement at the ceremony of opening of 7th World Water Forum that kicked off in Daegu, South Korea.

Underlining the significance of “green economy,” Emomali Rahmon noted that water resources should occupy a key place among renewable energy resources.

Emomali Rahmon also proposed to declare an International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” 2016-2026. The International Decade for Action “Water for Life” 2005-2015 was declared by the United Nations on Tajik president’s initiative, reports AsiaPlus.

The primary goal of the 'Water for Life' Decade is to promote efforts to fulfill international commitments made on water and water-related issues by 2015. Focus is on furthering cooperation at all levels, so that the water-related goals of the Millennium Declaration, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit for Sustainable Development, and Agenda 21 can be achieved. The challenge of the Decade is to focus attention on action-oriented activities and policies that ensure the long-term sustainable management of water resources, in terms of both quantity and quality, and include measures to improve sanitation.

The 7th World Water Forum is taking place in Daegu/Gyeongbuk from April 12-17.

The 7th edition of the world’s largest water event has gathered participants from the international water community: academics, research institutions, enterprises, professional networks, governments and policy-makers, IGOs and NGOs, as well as representatives from various fields such as agriculture, food or energy. The 7th World Water Forum will focus on the implementation of the solutions that were identified during the 6th edition (Marseille, France, 2012).

The World Water Forum is a large-scale international conference that is held every three years since 1997 in cooperation with the public, private sectors, academia, and industries. It was first launched in an effort to facilitate international discussions on global water challenges.

The United Nations warns on its website that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions.