ADDIS ABABA – The FDRE President Sahilework Zewde stressed the need to strengthen university-industry linkage in a bid to unleash the country’s water and energy potentials while opening the first Ethiopian Water and Energy Week yesterday.
In her
opening speech, she noted that such event creates a platform to
discuss the national and global
context of water and energy sector.
The president also expressed her strong belief that the discussion will make professional contribution to the grand plans of the development projects led by the Ministry. “Similarly participants would dwell on research concepts and innovative ideas and discuss possible ways for university-sector and industry-linkage strengthening,” she avowed.
As to her, the week will help policy makers to obtain inputs from the participants and to pave the way to achieve the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
For his part Dr. Seleshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, noted that the symposium is an important platform to disseminate the international society clear, timely and reliable information on what Ethiopia is doing on water and energy sector development.
According to him, currently 73% of the population of Ethiopia has got access to potable water which gives us great success compared to only 13% of potable water by the year 1991, he added.
Ethiopia is also able to generate 4300MWfrom 14 water dams, 3 wind farms, many small diesel generators, one geothermal and one waste to energy-based power plants. Cognizant of the above facts such symposiums are vital for better development of the sector, he noted.
At the symposium different panel discussions will be conducted and the president together with the participants planted seedlings in the compound of the hotel where the symposium is being taken place from 17-20 June 2019. The Symposium was kicked off under the theme: “Transformation of Water and Energy Sectors for Ethiopia’s New Horizon of Hope.”, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian Herald, June 18/2019
BY HIZKEL HAILU
