Press Release

Board View

The 11th AWC Board of Council Meeting to Discuss Water Welfare of Asia

Date:
2020-07-07
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1,899

▷ The meeting will be held both online and offline at the headquarters of K-Water to prevent the spread of COVID-19 

▷ Participants will discuss COVID-19 countermeasures of each organization in the water sector, a joint research project on water management of nine Asian countries, and the development of the Asian Water Welfare Index


The Ministry of Environment (Minister Cho Myung-rae) will host the 11th Board of Council Meeting of the Asia Water Council, the largest international cooperation organization in the water sector in Asia. The meeting will be held at the main conference room in the headquarters of K-Water (located in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon) in the afternoon of July 8th.

* Asia Water Council: An international organization founded in 2016 to provide practical solutions for water-related problems in Asia. Today, it has become the largest international organization in the water sector in Asia, with 138 member organizations in 27 countries.


The meeting will be held both online and offline due to the current COVID-19 situation. The representatives of the Korean board member organizations, including the Ministry of Environment, Daegu Metropolitan City, and K-water, will participate in person. On the other hand, the foreign board member organizations, including the Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing of Indonesia, and the National Water Resources and Royal Irrigation Department of Thailand, will participate online. 


This year's meeting will be joined by the representatives of the 27 board member organizations at home and abroad, including Chairman Park Jae-hyeon, President of the Asia Water Council (CEO of K-water), Kim Dong-jin, Director General of the Water Resources Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Environment, Basuki Hadimuljono, Minister of Public Works and Housing of Indonesia, and Ponh Sachak, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology.


The main agenda of this year's meeting includes △COVID-19 Countermeasures of Each Organization in the Water Sector, △Plans for the Joint Research Project on Asian Water Management, △A Period to Hold the 2nd Asia International Water Week (AIWW*), and △Development of the Asian Water Welfare Index.

* Asia International Water Week: an international event in the water sector to internationally discuss water-related issues in Asia and required solutions, hosted by the government of the host country and organized by the Asia Water Council, held every three years


It is worth mentioning that this year's meeting will be the starting point of the Joint Research Project on Asian Water Management, which was planned to be started this year by the cooperation between the Korean government, OECD, and the Asia Water Council.


The joint research project is to suggest policies and technical solutions for the improvement of the water management system of a target country, as well as follow-up water management infrastructure projects to realize the suggested solutions in nine Asian countries* for five years from 2020 to 2024. Thailand is the research target of 2020.  

* Thailand is the research target of the first year, and two countries will be selected as new targets annually from the second year


As K-water (Korean governmental agency specialized in water management) joins the research under the leadership of Korean government agencies (Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), it is expected that Korean water companies' entry into the Asian market will be accelerated. 


In addition, the Asia Water Council will develop the 'Asian Water Welfare Index' to assess the water management conditions of each Asian country. 


The index is planned to be developed by 2022 through the cooperation between Korean and international water organizations, including the Ministry of Environment of Korea and K-water. It will be used to develop various cooperation projects to improve the water welfare of each Asian country.


As an additional event of the meeting, a signing ceremony of an MOU on the joint development of the Smart City Evaluation Index will be held by the Asia Water Council, K-water, and International Water Resources Association (IWRA*).

* International Water Resources Association: an international organization founded by water experts of the world in 1971, specialized in research and education to share water-related issues and find required solutions


The Smart City Evaluation Index is a tool to suggest water management methods required for the development of smart cities, including ways to solve water scarcity caused by climate change and prevent urban flooding.


The index will be developed by the Asia Water Council (an iconic venue for cooperation in the water sector in Asia), K-water (carries out smart city projects, including Busan Eco-Delta City), and the International Water Resources Association (specialized in water management).


As many Asian countries have started building smart cities, such as the new administrative capital construction project of Indonesia, the MOU on the development of the evaluation index is expected to attract the growing attention of the world. 


"We will thoroughly prepare for this year's meeting, in order to take the meeting as an opportunity for Korean water companies to lead the green infrastructure market, which will be created all over Asia after the COVID-19 pandemic" stated Director General Kim Dong-jin.