The virtual conference of the 88th General Assembly of International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) was held on November 30, 2020.
During the meeting, ICOLD Secretary-General Michel De Vivo announced the online secret ballot result and officially declared that CHINCOLD won the bid for hosting the 28th ICOLD Congress and 92nd Annual Meeting in Chengdu, China in 2024. The Congress will be hosted by ICOLD and the Ministry of Water Resources of China and jointly organized by CHINCOLD, IWHR, and other related organizations.
The candidate cities of the ICOLD 2024 Congress include Chengdu of China and Addis Abeba of Ethiopia. From November 18 to 25, 2020, a supervised secret online ballot was conducted among the member states of ICOLD.
A total of 68 valid votes were received, with Chengdu winning the right to host the event by more than two-thirds of the votes.
The successful bidding of the Congress is of great significance to the thorough implementation of the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative and an excellent opportunity for China to tell its water stories and enhance its profile in the international arena.
The results of the online secret ballot
Dr. JIAO Yong, President of CHINCOLD and former Vice Minister of Water Resources of China, gave his speech after the result was declared, expressing his thanks to all colleagues and friends for their precious support to CHINCOLD. He pointed out that since 2000 when China successfully organized the 20th ICOLD Congress, China has made further progress in dam engineering and hydropower development, and achievement in infrastructure building, economic and cultural progress and people’s livelihood improvement has been remarkable in the past two decades. He promised that CHINCOLD would do its best to prepare the Congress to promise the participants an enjoyable and memorable event.
Over 160 experts attened the online meeting, including ICOLD President Mr. Michael Rogers, ICOLD Honorary Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Chairs of its committees.
The International Commission On Large Dams (ICOLD) is a non-governmental International Organization that provides a worldclass platform for knowledge and experience sharing in dam engineering. Founded in 1928, ICOLD has its National Committees from 104 countries with approximately 10,000 individual members, covering more than 95% dam-owning countries.
ICOLD holds annual meetings and a world congress every three years. It has successfully held 26 congresses and 87 annual meetings and has a significant influence on the international water and hydropower industry.
China has hosted several ICOLD events in the past, including the 55th Annual Meeting (Beijing, 1987), the 20th Congress, and the 68th Annual Meeting (Beijing, 2000).
