5. In his Opening Address, the President of the Kazakhstan National Academy for Agricultural Research, Mr Azimkhan Satybaldin, highlighted the importance of water resources for irrigated agriculture, with currently over 2 million ha being irrigated in Kazakhstan, and increasing every year. He stressed the need for a more effective use of water resources, including for fish production, and encouraged the participants of the Expert Consultation to come forward with concrete proposals and recommendations. Mr Khismet Ismukhanov, Director of the Kazakhstan Scientific Fishery Research Institute, in his introduction expressed appreciation that the organizers of the Expert Consultation selected Almaty as a venue for this very important meeting and wished the participants success with their deliberations. The UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Mr Selvakumaran Ramachandran welcomed the participants and thanked the Director of the Kazakhstan Fisheries Research Institute for hosting this important meeting. Mr G. Marmulla, FAO Fishery Resources Officer and Technical Secretary for the Expert Consultation, Fisheries Department, Rome, then briefly reviewed the history of the preparatory work leading to the present Expert Consultation. The issue of the importance for freshwater fishery of water systems serving irrigated agriculture in the arid zone of Asia was raised for the first time in 1991 at the FAO Indo-Pacific Fishery Commission Fifth Working Party on Inland Fisheries, held in Indonesia. An attempt to hold the Expert Consultation in 1993 in Turkey failed, but the need for holding it was stressed again at the Sixth Working Party in 1994 in Bangkok. During the period 1995-2000, FAO prepared publications dealing with reservoirs in India and the former USSR, respectively, and also with fisheries in several landlocked countries of Asia, including those in the arid zone. Papers already submitted for the 1993 Expert Consultation in Turkey were also published. In 1999, the Twenty-third Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries gave high priority to inland fisheries and aquaculture development and requested the Fisheries Department of FAO to take appropriate action.
