He was speaking during the launch of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report ‘Water Governance in the Arab Region: managing scarcity and securing the future’.
Present were Parliament Speaker Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani, Ministers, MPs, ambassadors and UN officials.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs thanked the UNDP for organising this important event in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and thanked UNDP Administrator Helen Clark for the launch of the report on Understanding Water Challenges in the Arab Region.
Shaikh Khalid affirmed the importance of event in establishing solutions to meet the challenges of water problems in Arab countries as well as preparing strategic plans for the future management of water, particularly rationalising uses and increasing capacity in the GCC states, in general, and the Kingdom of Bahrain, in particular.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted the issues central to addressing water scarcity, within the strategic outlook of the Kingdom that was launched by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa related to water security, including means of providing financial and human resources to achieve integrated water management and to draw the necessary plans and programmes, calling for concerted efforts and facilitating the funding from government and private banks.
The event also featured a speech by Ms Clark on the launch of the report “Water Governance in the Arab Region: managing scarcity and securing the future”, followed by workshops and discussions by experts from a number of Arab states and the UN.
Discussions covered opportunities for bolstering water security at the regional level, possibility of establishing partnerships between research and scientific institutions to prepare studies on the scarcity of water in the Arab region and finding a role for the private sector to contribute to facing such future challenges.