Amid the slump in international trade, K-water is spearheading Korea’s exports of water technology. As the chair of the Asia Water Council (AWC), K-water shared solutions to water issues facing Asia and agreed to strengthen the water security partnership in a one-on-one meeting with the Cambodian prime minister during the conference in February; thus establishing itself as a crucial partner for economic development among Asian countries.
📝Text by. Editorial Team. / 📷Photos. K-water
Cross-Border Cooperation for Greater Water Wellbeing
With water technology becoming increasingly important in the era of climate crisis, K-water’s advanced water management technology has put K-water in the spotlight as a water technology leader in Asia. Launched in 2016 under the leadership of Korea, the Asia Water Council (AWC)—as Asia’s largest platform for cross-border water cooperation—is committed to helping solve Asia’s water problems, develop water projects, and support the overseas expansion of Korean water corporations. AWC has 176 members including governments of 26 countries and other public organizations. As the chair of AWC, K-water is actively involved in developing and spreading water solutions.
A Forum for Cooperation for Sustainable Growth
K-water showcased its super-gap water management technology at the technical seminar of the 22nd AWC Board of Council Meeting held on February 27 in Cambodia. The seminar was attended by the Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology of Cambodia and senior government officials of other countries. As the chair of AWC, K-water suggested that countries embrace water infrastructure management technology integrated with high technology as a policy innovation task. In addition, K-water led a team of 12 climate and water tech companies in the fields of smart water supply network management and maintenance and water leak detection to the seminar, where the innovative technologies of these Korean companies were presented to the audience. The Korean delegation—the largest ever in the history of the AWC Board of Council Meeting—had a tangible effect on expanding the framework for economic and diplomatic cooperation among Asian countries.
Attended by over 20 director organizations including K-water, the AWC Board of Council Meeting discussed key agenda such as admission of new members and preparatory work for the 4th Asia Water Week. The Ministry of Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan has joined AWC as a new member and expressed its wish to work with K-water on smart water management in a one-on-one meeting with K-water CEO Yun Seog-dae.
“K-water will remain actively involved in technological exchanges and cooperation to help more countries adopt its super-gap water management technology as an innovative solution to water issues—which is a global challenge—and AWC will be the central force behind all these endeavors,” Yun said.
Greater Partnership for Water Security with Cambodia
K-water CEO Yun Seog-dae and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet had a one-on-one meeting on February 28 to discuss specific ways of working together on water and energy and urban development.
Located in the downstream of Mekong River, Cambodia is vulnerable to droughts and floods according to the policy of China, Laos, and other countries with which it shares the river. Against this backdrop, Cambodia declared water resources management as key agenda, and it has been working closely with K-water since last year.
K-water CEO Yun met with Prime Minister Hun Manet during his state visit to Korea in May and proposed the “Integrated National Water Management and New Prosperity Project” as the basic direction for the resolution of water issues and strategic urban development. Since then, the two parties have been talking about specific cooperation projects including construction of infrastructure to connect water paths between basins for flood prevention and water flow control, and O Sla small hydro power development.
During the one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Hun Manet, K-water CEO Yun expanded the scope of bilateral cooperation to water management in the entire country of Cambodia. Specifically, Yun proposed the Mekong-Stung Sen River Project and a project to create eco-friendly smart cities in Phnom Penh and other neighboring cities in order to enhance water security against natural disasters and increase water supply.
During his visit to Korea to attend the 3rd Korea-Mekong International Water Forum held on March 24 and 25, Cambodian Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology Thor Chetha met with Korean Minister of Environment Kim Wansup and discussed ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries to advance water management and enhance the ability to adapt to climate change. Going forward, Korea’s water technology is expected to contribute greatly to improving Cambodia’s water security.
