Dr. Saeed Nairizi, President of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) visited IWHR on July 15, 2015, meeting with IWHR President Kuang Shangfu and Chief Engineer Gao Zhaoyi, who is the former president of ICID, and discussing fostering closer bilateral relationships.
Dr. Kuang Shangfu welcomed the visiting delegates, congratulated the newly-elected ICID president, and thanked the commission on their long-time support for the research institute as well as the Chinese National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (CNCID) hosted at IWHR. He said IWHR, including Prof. Gao Zhanyi and Prof. Ding Kunlun who has recently been elected vice president of ICID, would support as always the commission under the leadership of Dr. Nairizi. Dr. Kuang mentioned the new Chinese water management philosophy of "prioritizing water saving, balancing human-water relationship, adapting integrated management methods and performing government and market functions," and said Chinese government has introduced a serial of water-saving policies and measures, increased investment and enhanced the promotion and application of relevant technologies. He also mentioned programs the Chinese government has launched in recent years in promoting water-efficient irrigation and safeguarding food security, including the water-saving and yield-increasing program in Northeast China, and said IWHR is willing to deepen cooperation and exchange with ICID and make contributions to world irrigation and drainage development.
Dr. Nairizi thanked IWHR for its hospitality. He said Prof. Gao has made great contributions to the development of ICID during his tenure of office, and hoped the IWHR would continue to support the international organization. He also talked on the future focus of ICID on the nexus of water, energy and food as well as the formulation of action plans.
Lively discussions ensued on the bilateral cooperation and the prize on heritage of world water system that is soon to be launched by ICID.
After the meeting, Dr. Nairizi gave a lecture at IWHR's Global Vision Forum, a platform for inviting world renowned experts to lecture at the research institute, on the topic of water-energy-food nexus. ICID Secretary General Avinash Tyagi and Salamat, the assistant of Dr. Nairizi, also communicated with the participants on the water heritage prize, the coordination between national commissions and ICID, and the improvement of information exchange. Discussions were made on the stakeholder's participation, the positioning and development of international organizations, and so on.
