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ADB Review [ December 2006 - January 2007 ]

Before a typhoon could interrupt finance talks with ADB, five countries identified barriers to doubling their investments in water

By Cezar Tigno
Web writer for www.adb.org/water

The looming bad weather on Manila's skyline in the last week of September seemed a Shakespearean witches' brew. But something else was brewing inside Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters that week. Delegations from India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, and Viet Nam that included a strategic mix of high-level national and local government officials from different ministries—78 in all—were meeting with ADB water operations staff to discuss the barriers and opportunities facing their water sectors.

The country-based dialogues were the centerpiece of the conference entitled Doubling Water Financing and Results. The conference started action on ADB's New Water Financing Program, which aims to double ADB's water investments in the region between 2006 and 2010. The country teams worked for two days to answer the conference's central question, "How can ADB help address your country's water investment needs?"

"The five countries were specifically invited to the conference because they represent a great proportion of the region's need for better water service delivery and resource management," ADB Water Committee Chair Arjun Thapan said.

Hun Kim, Director of ADB's South Asia Urban Development Division, said, "This is the first time that we had the chance to sit down and seriously talk with DMC officials from all levels of government—national, state, and local."

The conference was part of a longer chain of efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the water targets aimed at improving access to safe drinking water and sanitation for half of the world's poor by 2015.

By the time the conference ended on 28 September, typhoon Milenyo—one of the strongest to hit the Philippines in recent years—started ravaging Manila's streets. Most delegates' flights were delayed by at least a day, but they weren't returning home empty handed.

Solving Problems, Finding Opportunities

As an outcome of the conference, delegates produced country reports on their water sector barriers and opportunities, which were presented at the last plenary session.

India identified funding requirements for water supply and sanitation improvements in cities not covered by the Jawarharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, which ADB supports. The country delegation said it needs ADB's support in developing a complete irrigation project for 15 million hectares of agricultural land that is currently underutilized.

The delegation from Viet Nam listed hydropower, irrigation, and urban water supply and sanitation as its main concerns. Also high on the Government's agenda is reducing nonrevenue water in Hanoi, and large infrastructure projects along the Red River and the Mekong Delta.

The Philippines showed a great interest in sub-sovereign lending to local governments as a way of helping expand access to water supply and sanitation outside Metro Manila. More money is also needed to bring integrated water resource management plans to the Agusan River basin in Mindanao.

Pakistan's river basins—Ravi, Tochi, Naigaj, and the Balochistan aquifer—demand immediate integrated water resource management, while construction of major multi-purpose dams and development of flood management strategies are required in rural areas.

The dialogue between Indonesia and ADB zeroed in on the pollution problem of the Citarum river basin, which supplies around 80% of Jakarta's water. Representatives from the country came prepared with detailed analysis of water-sector barriers and, with the ADB team, discussed their vision and investment targets.

ADB's new Multitranche Financing Facility was of special interest to participants as it acts as a line of credit, providing larger amounts in slices to finance cluster projects. India, Indonesia, and Viet Nam have requested in-country dialogues similar to those conducted at the conference to pursue investment possibilities using the multitranche facility.

Senior officials from the People's Republic of China were also invited but did not attend. Discussions are, however, ongoing regarding the conduct of a future in-country dialogue.

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