An interactive symposium on the reality of investment in the water sector

 Damascus University, in collaboration with relevant faculties and ministries, organized a symposium on "Investing in the Water Sector: Opportunities and Goals." The aim of the symposium was to exchange ideas and opinions that can contribute to finding solutions and developing satisfactory proposals and recommendations for optimal investment in the water sector.

The symposium was attended by Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Bassam Ibrahim, Minister of Water Resources, Engineer Hussein Makhlouf, and President of the University of Damascus, Dr. Muhammad Osama Al-Jabban, his deputies, deans, representatives of ministries, governmental and private bodies, and a group of specialists and interested parties. The dialogue during the symposium was moderated by Dr. Wael Mualla.

Minister Makhlouf stated that water is a finite renewable resource, and that the Ministry looks at the value of water and works on delivering it through a number of services provided by the country.

He also wished to present all ideas and proposals during the symposium to benefit from them and translate them into action programs. With regard to the technical aspect, the Ministry has a vision, a water policy, and a plan for what should happen technically. As for partnership with parties that can engage in such investment and the importance of participation with the local community, water must remain a service provided by the country and made available as a right to every citizen.

In his response to the participants’ interventions, the Minister of Water Resources stressed the importance of the workshop as it is the first on the reality of investment in water, pointing out the fact that the currently available water legislation aims to regulate the relationship between the country, represented by the Ministry and its affiliated agencies, and the entities benefiting from water. In addition, he highlighted that natural resources, institutions and facilities are public property and the country is responsible for managing and supervising them for the benefit of citizens and their duty is to protect them.

Engineer Kanaan pointed out the basic determinants of investment and participation in water sector services, as water is considered a national wealth with public ownership under the constitution, and that affordable drinking water and sanitation services are a human right, and that securing water for agricultural irrigation is linked to achieving food security as well as reducing groundwater depletion.

Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Damascus, Dr. Khawla Mansour, gave a presentation on the impact of climate change on water resources in Syria, noting that there are many adaptation strategies that can be implemented to confront climate challenges to water resources, as these challenges are represented by water scarcity and pollution, energy shortages, climate change, food security, and poverty.

At the conclusion of the symposium, the participants stressed the need to benefit from scientific research and transform the problems that the Ministry of Water Resources suffers from into ideas for projects and dissertations for graduate students at the university in order to find suitable solutions.