The Budapest Water Summit will be held between October 8 and 11, and will be the most significant diplomatic event of the second half of the year in Hungary, the Foreign Ministry's Deputy State Secretary for European Union Sectoral Policy Gábor Baranyai told Hungarian news agency MTI on Tuesday.

The organisers of the event informed representatives of the various embassies that operate in Hungary about the event at the Ministry of Rural Development. Delegates from some 40 countries were present.

The Deputy State Secretary indicated that most of the member states of the United Nations Organisation and representatives of a large number of international organisations are expected to attend the October Summit, which was initiated by President of the Republic János Áder. The reason for the extreme interest is that water is a natural resource which is highly valuable to everyone and to every nation. This is also one of the reasons why Hungary undertook to host the World Water Summit.

According to Mr. Baranyai, the country's significant water management experience also justifies Hungary being the host and organiser of the event, thus creating a cooperative platform for global activities within the field.

The Deputy State Secretary said that the meeting, which will be organised with the participation of youth, non-governmental and business representatives, will include discussions on drinking water and wastewater treatment, integrated water management and opportunities for international cooperation within the fields of water administration, including increasing capacities. In addition, the participants of the Summit will discuss the opportunities provided by the green economy, with special emphasis on the realisation of water management objectives, and also possible methods for financing the aforementioned fields.

The Ministry of Rural Development's Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Zoltán Illés stressed that clean water is a fundamental requirement for human existence without which we cannot survive for more than three or four days. He also drew attention to the fact that 97.2% of the Earth's water stocks are saltwater, with only the remainder making up our fresh water reserves.

And only about a third of fresh water stocks may be utilised by mankind, because the majority of fresh water exists in the form of ice. According to the Minister of State, the preservation of water stocks and of the natural environment in general is of prime importance.

Slovenia's natural treasures were presented at the press conference in the form of a poster exhibition. Zoltán Illés indicated that at the meeting, Slovenian Ambassador to Hungary Darja Bavdaž Kuret, while welcoming the Summit, had drawn particular attention to the importance of protecting the River Drava and of the responsibility of the four countries, Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia, through which the river passes. The Hungarian Minister of State for Environmental Affairs agreed wholeheartedly with these statements.

The English-language homepage of the Budapest Water Summit is available here.

(MTI)