AFED at Amman-Cologne Water Symposium

Amman, 25/1/2012

"Green Growth and Water Resources in the MENA Region" was the title of a symposium in Amman, jointly organized by the University of Jordan and Cologne University of Applied Sciences. The symposium, held under the patronage of HRH Princess Sumaya bint El-Hassan, was addressed by 15 experts, mostly coming from Germany. The topics covered economic growth models for the Arab region, resource efficiency, value of natural capital, and innovations towards implementing the green growth model.

AFED's Secretary General Najib Saab delivered a keynote speech, in which he discussed the relation between sound water management and green growth, based on AFED reports. Saab said that "we cannot even dream of achieving sustainable growth if we don't face seriously the issue of water resource management," Findings and recommendations of AFED's report on Green Economy in a Changing Arab World were broadly taken up by the delegates. Mr. Khaled Irani, member of AFED Board of Trustees and former Minister of Environment and Energy, took part in the discussion of AFED report.

Students from the bicultural Jordanian-German Master Program "Integrated Water Resources Management for Arab and German Young Professionals" presented summaries of their research, which covered a host of specific water problem in a solution-oriented manner.