Entrusted by the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) of China and organized by NHRI Department of Rural Electrification (also known as HRC), 2017 Seminar on Water Resources Management & Small Hydropower Development for Countries Along the Belt and Road was held successfully in Hangzhou from 16 June to 13 July 2017. 44 officials from 12 countries along the Belt and Road, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Dominica, DPRK, Egypt, Iran, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar and Nepal came to attend the seminar. Based on the concerted efforts of all lecturers, participants and HRC training team, this seminar has achieved fruitful results. This is the 90th foreign-aid training program that HRC implemented since its establishment.
During the seminar, the trainees enjoyed the specific lectures covering the advanced technology and practical experiences in the field of water resources and small hydropower. Site visits were arranged to the Three Gorges Project, NHRI Tiexinqiao Water Experiment Center, representative hydropower stations and equipment manufacturers, which enabled trainees to have a comprehensive understanding about the updated technology and equipment manufacturing capability of water resources management and small hydropower development in China, and also laid a solid foundation for future cooperation. Furthermore, the representative from each country delivered his/her country report respectively on the subject of water resources management and small hydropower development. Based on full communication and exchange of technical experiences in the field of water resources and small hydropower, an in-depth discussion on how to carry out effective cooperation in the field of water resources and small hydropower was conducted between trainees and HRC specialists.
Mr. CAI Runyuan, Division Chief of MoC Training Center, Mr. FAN Aihua, Division Chief of Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, Ms. SHI Xiaomei, Project Officer of MoC Training Center, and Mr. XU Jincai, Director-General of HRC were present at the grand closing ceremony. Mr. CAI and Mr. XU delivered a speech respectively and awarded MoC certificates to all the participants.
Mr. CAI mentioned that there were numerous rivers and lakes in China with abundant water resources and small hydropower potential, ranking the 1st in the world. In recent years, Chinese government has not only accumulated plenty of experiences, but also made a big progress, dedicating to water conservancy construction. The seminar has provided a platform where China and other developing countries can enhance communication and promote water resources management and small hydropower development. He addressed: "…I sincerely hope this seminar could be a start of our mutual cooperation, through study and exchanges, and establish a bridge of friendship among us, thus laying a solid foundation for our mutual cooperation."
Mr. XU made a conclusion remark on the activities and achievements of the seminar, and on behalf of HRC, he expressed his heartfelt thanks to MoC for its great support, and to the participants for their earnest attitudes and friendly cooperation during the seminar. He mentioned: "… I am very pleased to learn that you are satisfied with this productive seminar and you feel that the time, about 28 days you spent here, is pleasant…It is expected that you will play a more active role in the development of water resources and small hydropower in your own countries, and you are warmly welcome to re-visit HRC, ‘the Family of SHP in the World’ frequently in the future. We hope that more and more win-win cooperation would be achieved for common development."
On behalf of all the participants, Ms. Orujova Gunay, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Azerbaijan, delivered a speech at the closing ceremony, expressing her sincere gratitude to the Chinese government and showing her appreciation to MoC, China for sponsoring such a productive seminar and to HRC training team for the hard work and effective management, respectively. Other participants also expressed their willingness to take this seminar as a good opportunity to enhance the cooperation on water resources and small hydropower between China and their respective countries, thus jointly bringing safe water and clean energy to the world for its sustainable development.
The seminar was warmly welcome and highly evaluated by the participating countries, and its successful fulfillment has laid a solid foundation for domestic related agencies to actively implement the national strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative, and to carry out in-depth and friendly cooperation with the countries along the Belt and Road in the field of water resources and small hydropower.
