On September 7 local time in Indonesia, during the 70th International Executive Council Meeting of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), Mr. Felix Reinders, President of ICID announced that China won the right to host the 4th World Irrigation Forum and 73rd International Executive Council Meeting of ICID in 2022. Both events will be jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) of China, ICID and Chinese National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (CNCID), and organized by IWHR.
President of ICID announced China’s winning of hosting right of the 4th World Irrigation Forum
The 3rd World Irrigation Forum and the 70th International Executive Council Meeting of ICID were held in Indonesia during September 2 to 7 this year. Over 1,400 representatives from government sector, research institutes, and business corporations as well as 13 international organizations such as World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI) participated in the Forum. Mr. TIAN Xuebin, Vice President of MWR, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech at the high-level advisory group meeting of the Forum.
An expert delegation organized by IWHR took part in the Forum. IWHR experts gave reports and exchanged ideas on three subtopics as well as many seminars and side meetings of the Forum.
Founded in 1950, ICID was a non-governmental academic organization to promote sustainable development in irrigation and drainage and ensure food security for the whole world by boosting technical exchange and collaboration in irrigation, drainage, and flood control and river regulation. So far, ICID has 78 national (regional) members, which in total cover 95% of the world’s irrigated area, and has made significant contributions to the sustainable development of the whole world’s agriculture as well as food security.
The 3rd World Irrigation Forum
The World Irrigation Forum is an important event initiated by IWHR expert Dr. GAO Zhanyi in 2013 who was elected ICID President in 2011. Held every three years, the Forum focuses on policies, mechanisms, investment and funding, technologies, etc. related to irrigation and drainage and has already become the most influential irrigation and drainage event in the international community. The 1st Forum was held in Turkey in October, 2013. The 4th Forum will be held in 2022 for its first time in China.
China has been earnestly implementing the water governance guideline to “prioritize water conservation, balance development with geographical distribution of water resources, practice systematic governance, and achieve government-market synergy”, which was raised by President XI Jinping, in irrigation and drainage in recent years. Under the State Council’s arrangement to enhance farmland irrigation and water conservancy, promote the counterpart transformation projects in irrigation areas and deploy water-saving irrigation measures, China has achieved remarkable achievements with worldwide recognition.
The 4th World Irrigation Forum will be an important chance for China to advance its water conservancy development for the Belt and Road Initiative, roll out its achievements and experience as well as to promote Chinese water technologies, equipment and products in the international market. It will also help China bring in, digest and make full use of the advanced ideas, technologies and management models from other countries.
