AMMAN: Twenty-four countries opened a conference at the Dead Sea resort yesterday to formulate a water strategy for the Mediterranean region.
The three-day Euro-Med conference, which is co-sponsored by Jordan, France and Egypt, was opened by Prince Hashem bin Al-Hussein, deputizing for King Abdallah.
The meeting was originally schedule to begin at the end of October but Jordan postponed it twice to resolve a dispute over the participation of the Arab League.
Addressing the conference, Jordanian Minister of Water Raed Abu Soud said that Jordan was suffering from a water deficit of about 500 million cubic meters a year because of an influx of migrants and climate changes.
Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mahmoud Abu Zeid said the conference came at the right time to discuss “the administration of water resources and boosting regional cooperation.”
