MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) president on Tuesday said about 300 million people in the Asia and Pacific region do not have improved access to water.
ADB President Takehiko Nakao’s comments came during the opening of the Asia Water Forum 2018 at the institution’s headquarters in Manila.
“About 300 million people in the Asia and Pacific region do not have improved access to water and 1.7 billion lack access to basic sanitation,” Nakao said.
“Innovations and new technologies provide the means to help ADB developing member countries advance their water management, including river basin management, flood control, and water pollution; and service delivery such as water supply, sanitation, and irrigation,” he added.
This year’s forum features over four days a series of panels, leadership discussions, technical sessions and workshops.
The event is complemented by an exhibition of 48 international firms showcasing the latest water sector technologies and innovations, including artificial intelligence applied to real time river flow forecasting, drone technology for improved irrigation, solar powered pumps and equipment that generates water from the air.
Water demand in the region is poised to grow by more than half by 2050, leaving up to 3.4 billion people facing water insecurity. Moreover, in 2016, disaster-related losses in Asia totaled $87 billion, of which about 25% was connected to flooding, an ABD press release read.
Over the past 20 years, Asia has incurred half of the estimated global economic cost of water-related disasters, it added.
ADB’s recently approved Strategy 2030 highlights the importance of water in the context of climate change, disaster resilience, the water-food-energy nexus, rural development and food security and livable cities.
ADB water projects have been using the latest technologies and innovations to improve development impact. ADB is using satellite remote sensing to quantify agriculture productivity improvement and guide investments in the irrigation sector.
It is also doing substantial work to crowd in private finance and leverage domestic finance, which is another important element of Strategy 2030.
Since its founding in 1966, ADB has spent a total of $45.88 billion on water projects. ADB’s active water sector operations amount to nearly $14 billion and this is growing — another $14 billion in investments is planned between now and 2020.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members — 48 from the region. In 2017, ADB operations totaled $32.2 billion, including $11.9 billion in co-financing.