ASTANA – Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu reiterated Kazakhstan’s commitment to advancing the priorities of its chairmanship in the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) at a Sept. 5 meeting with IFAS Executive Committee Chairman Askhat Orazbay.
Murat Nurtleu with Askhat Orazbay. Photo credit: gov.kz
Kazakhstan assumed the three-year chairmanship of IFAS from Tajikistan on Jan. 1.
According to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press service, the priorities were set forth by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the IFAS Summit in Dushanbe in September 2023.
Nurtleu emphasized the critical role of the fund in promoting a coordinated regional policy on sustainable water management and advancing environmental and scientific projects aimed at improving the ecological and socio-economic conditions in the Aral Sea region.
Orazbay provided updates on the fund’s current efforts to tackle the environmental degradation of the Aral Sea area, including collaboration with international partners on environmental protection and the rehabilitation of ecologically vulnerable regions.
