The meeting was opened by his excellency Minister Mukhtar Babayev who thanked the project team and the consultants for the hard work in the field of environmental protection and regional cooperation at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan. The UNDP Azerbaijan Resident Representative Mr. Alessandro Fracassetti, as weel as UNDP GEF International Waters Regional Technical Advisor, PSC Chair Mr. Vladimir Mamaev have also joined the opening remarks and welcomed the participants. The meeting was attended by the National Focal Points, UNDP Country representatives, surface and groundwater quantity and quality experts of both countries, Mid-Term Evaluator as well as Project Team. 

The purpose of this meeting is to update the Project Board members about the achievements for the previous year and approve the planned activities and budget for the upcoming year. Project Quality Assurance report, Communications strategy and Budget plan were also presented. Additionally, the Mid-Term Review Report was presented to the board members, where the Mid-Term Evaluator recommended the 6 month no-cost extension to the project (till February 2021) and approved by the board. 

The three-day meeting opening was concluded by discussing the project challenges, proposed indicator updates as well as planned partnerships.