Uzbek foreign minister attends international conference on climate-resilient Pakistan

A delegation of Uzbekistan led by acting Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov took part in the International Conference on Climate Resistant Pakistan in Geneva on January 9-10, Dunyo news agency reported.

The UN-sponsored event was attended by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, UAE Environment Minister Maryam al-Mheiri, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sultan bin Saad al-Murehi, Federal Counselor, Head of Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland Iñazio Cassis, delegations from Greece, UK, US, Japan, representatives of international and regional financial and banking institutions and private sector, the Foreign Ministry said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre have addressed the forum.

In his speech, the head of the Uzbek delegation, Bakhtiyor Saidov, identified the support of the population affected by natural disasters, the restoration of destroyed infrastructure and the revival of agriculture as one of the priority tasks. 

The participants of the forum were informed about the environmental programmes being implemented in the republic, including the large-scale initiative "Yashil Makon" by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Special attention is paid to the problem of the Aral Sea desiccation. Information on measures underway to mitigate the consequences of the ecological catastrophe and transform the Aral Sea region into an area of environmental innovations and technologies was presented. 

During the visit, the Uzbek foreign minister held bilateral meetings with UN Secretary General António Guterres, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sultan Bin Saad Al Murehi, UAE Minister of Environment Mariam Al Mheiri, President of the Islamic Development Bank Suleiman Al Jassir and Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Konstantin Limitovsky.