TEHRAN Deputy minister of energy said the second two-day Conference on the Management of Water and Sewage in Asian countries, will be held in Tehran with the attendance of 45 countries May 12-13.

Gholamreza Manouchehri said Sunday that the continuation of trade among Asian countries in the field of water and sewage industry; and keeping informed on the latest scientific, specialized, and performance developments are the objectives of the conference.

On selling water to the neighboring countries, he said that talks have been held for conducting water to Qatar, Kuwait, and UAE through pipeline and floating cylinders.

Manouchehri added that considering the talks held with United Arab Emirates, it was agreed to export one million cubic meters of water to this country for one year.

Currently, Tehran water supply is 160 million cubic meters less than last year's, while the recent rainfalls have supplied only 10 million cubic meters, according to IRNA.

Tehran has thus been deprived from 40-50 percent of its water supply, and the Ministry of Energy cannot strike a balance between the water supply and demand in Tehran. To cope with the problem, the ministry intends to supply the 70 million cubic meters shortage from the underground supplies of Taliqan, Lar, and other sources.

In the event the water supply management should fail to meet public demand for water may be rationed toward the end of the summer this year.

The deputy minister of energy said that in case Tehran sewage system is put into operation, 70 percent of the water may be recovered for use in agriculture, industries, and irrigation.

Manouchehri stated that the most important reasons of water shortage in the Middle East area are related to investment, border disputes, environmental pollution, drought, climatic changes, exchange of the appropriate technology, and data exchange.

He added that during the meeting the Syrian minister of irrigation, the Sri Lankan deputy minister for irrigation, the German deputy minister for education and research, international experts, the chief of Water Supplies in Developing Countries, chiefs of the Italian water, irrigation, and drainage sections, as well as the representatives of World Health Organization and the World Bank will attend.

The head of the foreign section of the conference said that considering the year of dialogue among civilizations, three lectures concerning water and civilization in Greece, Grance, and China will be delivered during the conference.

310 articles have been turned in by Iranian and international experts in the field of which 160 have been accepted, 60 of them by foreign participants.