A continuous effort to ensure the availability of water for all purposes in life was made through the International Conference on Water Resources (ICWR 2018) at Langkawi Island on the 27th and 28th of November 2018. ICWR 2018 was jointly organized by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) with collaborations from the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS), Langkawi Development Authority (LADA), Kedah State Government, Humid Tropics Centre, the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other agencies and universities in Malaysia. It was an excellent example by which multinational collaborative efforts would bring positive impacts to mankind especially on issues related to water resources. ICWR 2018 attracted academicians, professionals, researchers, consultants, decision-makers, entrepreneurs, managers and NGOs from home and abroad to a common platform in order to exchange their ideas and experiences, keeping them abreast with current techniques and new innovative developments, best solutions and methodologies in the field of water resources and sharing of knowledge on the global climate change, water resources and environmental management. This golden opportunity helped them to identify and suggest the best solutions and methodologies for conducting research in these areas. ICWR 2018 started with the welcoming remark from the Chairman himself, Professor Sobri Harun and was later officiated by the Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS), YB. Dr. Xavier Jayakumar who strongly believed that the 4th series of ICWR was an appropriate avenue for scientists and researchers to discuss important matters in their field of interests. There were several distinguished Resource Persons, Keynote Speakers, Paper Presenters and Participants from local and overseas who have been actively involved in water resources research and management participating in the conference. Keynote Speakers such as of Dato’ Ir. Dr. Hj. Md. Nasir b. Md. Noh, Director General in the Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Malaysia (DID), Professor Van-Thanh-Van Nguyen, Endowed Brace Chair Professor of Civil Engineering at McGill University, Canada and Professor Eiichi Nakakita, Vice Director of Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University together with over 80 presenters and 130 participants from 15 countries had made ICWR 2018 a success.
Source : Dr. Mohd. Ridza bin Mohd. Haniffah
