BEWG President ZHOU Min at ADB Roundtable on Financing Water 2019-11-29
On 26 Nov 2019, at the invitation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ZHOU Min, President of BEWG, attended the Roundtable on Financing Water held in Manila and met with Diwakar Gupta, Vice President of ADB; CHENG Zhijun, Executive Director of ADB China; Jackie B. Surtani， Director of Infrastructure Finance East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Private Sector Operations Department; and Siddhartha Shah, Director of Advisory Division 2, The Office of Publi-Private Partnership (OPPP), had a business cooperation meeting.
HOU Min delivered a keynote speech entitled "China Water PPP Experience and Case Sharing", reviewing the development history and successful practical experience of the PPP model in China's water industry,. Zhou Min shared the basic situation of BEWG and typical cases of the PPP model, and combined his experience to put forward suggestions for the development of water services in the municipal public sector. The speech caused a warm response among the guests, especially it’s highly recognized that the big-data-based smart water operation platform BEWG strives to build can effectively ensure the efficient operation of investment projects.
In the business talks after the meeting, CHENG Zhijun encouraged BEWG to strengthen cooperation with ADB and jointly contribute more good projects and good experience to the construction of water affairs and environmental infrastructure in China and Asia.ZHOU Min also discussed issues such as financing innovation and the possibility of international financial institutions directly investing in water affairs and environmental PPP projects in the form of equity with Mr. Diwaka Gupta, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank. Mr. Diwakar Gupta said that the ADB will further strengthen cooperation with BEWG and provide financing support for BEWG’s PPP projects in China and overseas markets.
The Roundtable was jointly sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Water Council, the Netherlands and the World Bank., aiming to build a global platform jointly participated by governments, international financial institutions, international organizations, charity organizations, academia, and civil society organizations, to promote the development of global water financing, jointly build global water security, and help the sustainable development of the water industry.
The Roundtable also further confirmed the necessity and importance of the implementation of the "dual platform" strategy of BEWG's asset management platform and operation management platform. In the future, it will become an important direction for the high-quality development of BEWG to strengthen close cooperation with international financial institutions, smooth the capital end, and at the same time focus on building excellent operational capabilities to ensure investment returns, and lead more social capital to flow into the water affairs and environmental PPP fields. BEWG will protect the green waters and gold mountains and contribute wisdom and strength to the beautiful environment of Asia and the world.
