On 15 September 2023 in Dushanbe, chaired by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, President of IFAS H.E. Emomali Rahmon, an extended format meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Founding States of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) took place, in which the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Turkmenistan H.E. Serdar Berdimuhamedow, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev and on behalf of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Sadira Japarova, First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic Adilbek Kasymaliev.
The meeting was also attended by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General – Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy, Mr. Kaha Imnadze.
At the meeting, the heads of state discussed a wide range of issues of cooperation to further improve the water management, ecological and socio-economic situation in the Aral Sea basin, expand regional cooperation in Central Asia, strengthen the role and improve the image of IFAS in the international arena.
As a result of the Summit, the final document was adopted – the Dushanbe Statement of the Heads of the Founding States of IFAS and decisions were signed on the following issues:
1. On the results of Tajikistan’s chairmanship in IFAS.
2. On activities to improve the institutional structure and legal framework of IFAS
3. On the transfer of the presidency of IFAS to another country.
The Council of the Heads of the Founding States of IFAS (IFAS Summit) is the highest body of the Fund and develops policies to bring the region’s production forces in line with its natural resource potential, recommends for approval interstate legal and regulatory acts, management principles common to all states of the region, use and protection of water resources, regulates interstate relations in the field of water management and environmental activities.
