US$3 million will be allocated to address the Aral Sea problem as part of the UN development program. This was announced at an international symposium on the revival of the Aral Sea area. The environmental situation was discussed by scientists and experts from around the world. The programs that improve the Aral Sea area have begun to bring positive results in the last 10-15 years. One of them is the ‘Regulation of Syrdarya river flow and preservation of the Northern Aral sea’ project. The large-scale event initiated by President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev has become productive thanks to the support of the World Bank. The life on the small Aral Sea has begun to revive. Today, there are nearly 8 industrial plants. Annually over 11,000 tonnes of products are processed and supplied to domestic and foreign markets. In addition, salt is extracted. Every year the saksaul is planted on the area of ​​10,000 hectares.

NORIMASA SHIMOMURA, UN RESIDENT COORDINATOR IN KAZAKHSTAN:
- The World bank, the international fund for supporting the Aral sea they play a major role but here today the UNDP would like to also contribute towards this effort by developing a joint program with colleagues from the Kyzylorda oblast we are developing relatively small US$3 million that will create economic opportunities for people living in the Aral sea region, also takes care of some healthcare challenges and social challenges that they may have.