Water Minister, Tunisian Minister of Agriculture talk cooperation

Amman: Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud met with Tunisian Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources, and Fisheries Abdel Monem Belati on Tuesday over the importance of maintaining Jordanian-Tunisian relations and aspects of joint cooperation, especially in dealing with water challenges and climate change. Given that Jordan is one of the most water-poor countries and that the individual's share has been reduced to 61 cubic meters annually for all uses, Abu Saud emphasized Jordan's efforts to address the mounting challenges of climate change and water scarcity. He also reviewed the achievements of the water sector in Jordan. During the meeting, Abu Saud stressed Jordan's keenness to strengthen cooperation and share expertise with Arab brothers, especially with Tunisia, in various water fields. He referred to Jordan's expertise in dealing with water scarcity and the refugee crisis, which imposed a great and enormous challenge on all sectors and Jordanian national resources. He indicated that Jord an is one of the leading countries in the treated water field, which currently amounts to about 200 million cubic meters annually, and uses it in economic development projects that generate income for local communities. He added that Jordan has expanded its use of renewable energy, especially solar energy, to reduce energy costs and gas emissions to deal with climate challenges, noting that Jordan looks forward to exchanging expertise in a way that serves the two brotherly countries. In turn, Belati reviewed the impact of accelerating climate change on Tunisia and the countries of the region, especially in recent years. He indicated that Tunisia has established 4 seawater desalination plants with a capacity of 400,000 cubic meters per day to provide additional quantities of drinking water that will be operated during the current year. He expressed his satisfaction and happiness with the Jordanian expertise in managing the water file, especially after learning about the benefits of treated water in the Sout h Amman plant to grow fodder and achieve a good economic income for the people of the region. He lauded the Jordanian-Tunisian fraternal relations and the Jordanian efforts in various sectors, especially the water domain, stressing the importance of enhancing relations in water and sanitation sectors and exchanging expertise between the two countries. The meeting was attended by the Tunisia's Ambassador to Jordan, Mufida Al Zaribi, and the President of the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA), Khaldon Khashman. Source: Jordan News Agency