Syria, Germany to boost cooperation on water resources

A joint team from Syria's Ministry of Irrigation and the German Federal Institute for Natural Resources accomplished an estimation of the irrigation water situation in Syria, a report to SANA said Wednesday.

The outcomes of the joint mission came in line with a preliminary accord signed between both sides following discussions held during last April in the German city of Bonn.

According to this accord, the German side will present a project to be later proposed to the German Ministry of Development and Economic cooperation. The duration of the first phase of the project is three years starting from June 2005, and the duration of the whole project will take no more than 10 years.

The Project provides for supporting the Syrian Ministry of Irrigation to improve its services and offer integrated ways to administrate and plan the use and exploration of underground water. The project will particularly concentrate on Aleppo basin.

For its part, the German side will offer aid in the field of improving the surveillance of the underground water, its quality and improving the administration of water in Aleppo basin in general.

It also pledged to cooperate on issues related to developing and administrating underground water resources in line with world criterion and to narrow the gap of knowledge and technical sciences.