US$59 Billion Investment Needed to Meet Rising Demand for Water Supply in Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Demand for water supply and sanitation is increasing rapidly as the 4.3 billion people and economies in Asia continue to grow. According to the Asian Water Development Outlook 2013 published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the region needs US$59 billion in investments for water supply.

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Investments are needed to close the gap in funding water infrastructure development and capital improvements for increasing current capacity and efficiency levels of water utilities.

The urgency to facilitate financing and identify critical investment areas for optimising performance efficiencies will be discussed at Water O&M Asia 2013 conference in Kuala Lumpur. CEO of the National Water Services Commission Malaysia (SPAN), Dato' Teo Yen Hua, and KPMG Partner and author of the "Water Tablet" on the Malaysian water industry reforms, Dr Chin Yoong Kheong, will be addressing the current development in national regulation and also assessing the move towards developing more public-private partnerships (PPP) to implement local water infrastructure projects.

Malaysia is the largest contributor to the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and has firm commitments to develop critical infrastructure in the region that includes supporting water supply projects. The fund has an estimated US$1 billion worth of projects already planned in the pipeline.

Attending the conference will be industry leaders from regulatory authorities and water utilities who will also be discussing strategies to build capacity for greater efficiency through investments in rehabilitation projects, reducing non-revenue water (NRW), energy efficiency programmes, "smart monitoring" models and modernising existing treatment facilities.

Featured in the conference as well is Director of the Queensland Competition Authority, Rick Stankiewicz, and Energy Development Manager of Jasa Tirta I Public Corporation, Gede Nugroho Arivianto, respectively presenting on Australia's water pricing reforms and increased functionality of river basin organisations to provide clean water supply and energy development in Indonesia.

More information about the conference can be found at www.asiawater-om.com.

ABOUT WATER O&M ASIA 2013 (www.asiawater-om.com)

Water O&M Asia 2013 will bring together industry leaders from utilities, public authorities and key policy makers to discuss the urgent need to improve and reform management practices in light of rising O&M costs to achieve financially sustainable operations. The conference is part of Asia Water's growing portfolio to provide the water industry with a focused platform that will feature in-depth analysis and facilitate dialogue for sharing best practices and case studies to propel the industry towards capturing opportunities to increase performance and optimise cost efficiencies.

For press inquiries, please contact:

UBM Malaysia
A-8-1, Level 8,
Hampshire Place Office,
157 Hampshire1,
Jalan Mayang Sari,
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Marcus Chan
Senior Marketing Associate (ASEAN)
DID : +603 2176 8703
HP : +6012 227 7286
E-mail: Marcus.chan@ubm.com