MANILA, PHILIPPINES – In response to the huge water needs of the Asia and Pacific region, the Netherlands Water Partnership and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed 2007-06-18 an agreement to accelerate the achievement of Millennium Development Goal on water and sanitation in Asia and the Pacific region.

The partners aim to develop a Strategic Partnership to support ADB’s Water Financing Program 2006-2010. The areas of cooperation will initially be focused on but not limited to Vietnam and Indonesia.

ADB will work with the partnership to develop pilot and demonstration projects, which directly link with ADB’s on-going or planned projects. Opportunities will also be explored for the twinning of Dutch water utilities with Asian water utilities.

Netherlands Water Partnership contributions include support for providing Water Supply and Sanitation services for 2 million people and exploring projects and programs to speed up the implementation of sanitation services in the region through joint financing and grant support to projects.

The partnership will also develop and disseminate specific knowledge products on sanitation, including technology related to non-water sanitation solutions, the economics of sanitation and financing mechanisms.

The areas of cooperation will be further developed in the coming months, which will result in a plan by November 2007. For this purpose, regular consultations between the two parties will take place in the coming months.

ADB’s Water Financing Program, 2006–2010 was launched at the 4th World Water Forum in March 2006 in Mexico City. It envisages boosting water investments to $10 billion during the five year period, with a strong portfolio and pipeline of loan and technical assistance projects.

The Netherlands Water Partnership aims to enhance Netherlands’ contribution to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and to help tackle world wide water problems. The diversity of the partnership, in which government agencies, private sector, knowledge institutes and civil society organizations are joined, makes that it encompass a broad range of expertise and experience.

About ADB

Additional background information (provided by Infrasite’s Editorial Staff)
ADB, UN joint statement on water and sanitation (2007-06-01)