President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has reviewed 133 projects worth a total of $3.3 billion that Uzbekistan plans to carry out when it chairs the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) in 2027–2029, the president’s press service said.
The projects cover water resources, ecology and socioeconomic development. They include modernizing water management facilities, deploying automated systems for water distribution, metering and monitoring, and building a regional digital platform for hydrometeorological data, flood and drought forecasting and early warning. Other projects aim to expand access to drinking water and sanitation.
The projects are to be financed with support from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and other international organizations.
Mirziyoyev ordered that a month-by-month roadmap for next year be approved and carried out. He also told officials to involve international experts, professors and scientists, including compatriots abroad.
The chairmanship’s priorities include improving the fund’s structure and legal framework, clearly delineating the powers of its bodies and strengthening engagement with Afghanistan. The agenda will also be aligned with decisions from consultative meetings of Central Asian heads of state.
The Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers will serve as the scientific and analytical platform for the initiatives, with plans to speed up the use of artificial intelligence in teaching and research.
Authorities also plan a single database for the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins, joint anti-desertification projects with scientists from the region, and bachelor’s and master’s programs in water management for students from Central Asia and Afghanistan.
IFAS was established by the countries of Central Asia in 1993 and coordinates management of water resources in the Aral Sea basin.
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