Vice President U Nyan Tun (centre front) with dignitaries at World Water Day 2016 celebration. Pictured from this article: Gary Jones, AWP (front far left), Nick Cumpston, Australian Embassy in Myanmar (front 4th from left), and John Dore, DFAT (back 2nd from right) – Photo: MNA

The Australian Water Partnership is building a strategic collaboration with the Government of Myanmar for integrated water resource management in the Ayeyarwady River Basin.

In support of this collaboration, the AWP was an international sponsor of the Myanmar World Water Day Celebration held in Naypyitaw on 13–14 March.

AWP CEO Gary Jones attended the 2-day event, prior to the first meeting of the Joint Committee under the recently signed MoU between the Government of Myanmar and the Australian Government. Gary presented on the topic: ‘Murray-Darling Basin – Lessons from Australian experiences with basin planning in the Murray-Darling and other river basins’.

Other Australian participants included Session Chair, Dr John Dore, Senior Water Resources Specialist, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT), and Speaker Dr Robert Carr, CEO eWater Solutions, who presented on ‘Water accounting in large river basins: building an evidence base for integrated planning’.

During the ceremony address, Myanmar Vice President U Nyan Tun stressed “the need to turn Myanmar into a water-efficient country by fully implementing [its] integrated water resources management plan by 2020.”

The country’s path to ensuring integrated water resources management will involve cooperation with Australia, the Netherlands and other international organisations on sustainable water management and water sector development.

The Australian Government was formally represented by Counsellor Nick Cumpston, from the Australian Embassy in Yangon, who provided congratulatory remarks at the opening ceremony.

Source: The Global Light of Myanmar