Bulgaria and Israel will cooperate in the field of water

Minister Petya Avramova and the Ambassador of Israel Yoram Elron signed an agreement between the two governments

An agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the State of Israel on cooperation in the field of water was signed today by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Petya Avramova and the Ambassador of Israel to our country HE Yoram Elron.

The ceremony was also attended by the Executive Director of Bulgarian Water and Sewerage Holding Ltd - Ilian Iliev.

Earlier today, the Council of Ministers approved a draft agreement.

The agreement will provide new, broader opportunities for co-operation with the State of Israel, a benchmark for water management, Minister Petya Avramova said during the ceremony. Bulgaria has not yet solved the problem of water supply, treatment, water losses in the water supply network and its reuse. We are convinced that a number of issues require multilateral cooperation, because we are in a time of climate change and we must protect this invaluable resource - water. The agreement will open a "green" corridor for more intensive implementation of innovative solutions and technologies. Of great interest to us is the use of intelligent resource management systems, including water network optimisation, satellite monitoring, etc., added the regional minister.

We have a lot of experience and scientific achievements in the field of water use, which we will be happy to share with you, said HE Yoram Elron also expressed confidence that the benefits of this agreement would be twofold.

Bulgaria has a water supply and sewerage network, which is over 90,000 km long and much of it is already heavily depreciated. It is necessary to find new opportunities for drinking and water supply for the regions with limited resources, as well as to solve the problems related to climate change, without exceeding the threshold of social tolerance of the price of services. The industry needs to study good practices and management models, as well as to master advanced technologies. Leading in this aspect is the State of Israel, which is a benchmark for efficient use of water resources through good organisation and wide application of new technologies.

Cooperation activities under the agreement may include: building better links in the water sector between the two countries, which can deliver new results in the development of the water industry by focusing on world markets, exchange of experience, know-how, good practices, scientific and technical information and data on water. The possibility of joint organization of seminars, workshops and meetings with scientists, experts, decision- makers and others from both countries, as well as partnerships in the professional, scientific, educational and training spheres to build the necessary skills for the water sectors in both countries. It will be possible to take action to build capacity and technical assistance activities, as well as to identify sources of international project funding.

The agreement will be a step towards the implementation of UN Resolution A / RES / 70/1 on the Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular Objective 6: Ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.