10th World Water Forum Creates Water Infrastructure Investment Opportunities
Denpasar, Bali – The 10th World Water Forum (WWF) on 18-25 May 2024 in Bali is expected to create investment opportunities for water infrastructure development. This was conveyed by the Deputy for Environmental and Forestry Management Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Nani Hendiarti.
“The 10th WWF will be attended by many countries, so this forum should be able to attract new investment in water infrastructure,” said Nani.
Nani said that to achieve the target of access to safe, fair and affordable drinking water by 2030, investment in drinking water pipes is needed. Meanwhile, investment development in water pipes has currently only reached 20.6%. Therefore, to increase investment to 30%, funds of up to IDR 123 trillion are still needed.
Moreover, she continued, the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget can only accommodate 37% of the water infrastructure funding needs. Therefore, investment should be encouraged as a source of capital.
Secretary General of the PUPR Ministry, Mohammad Zainal Fatah, said that Indonesia will offer a number of strategic water-related projects worth US$9.6 billion or Rp. 154 trillion at the 10th World Water Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali, on 18-25 May 2024.
The list of projects is currently being selected and compiled by the Ministry of National Planning and Development.
“This has combined many proposals, the value of which is 9.6 billion US dollars in the form of projects, whether they are projects that are already underway or new projects for which the funding is already there,” he said.
The big issue raised by the 10th World Water Forum was “Water for Shared Prosperity”. This theme is in line with the global commitment to find solutions for improving and managing sustainable water resources to face uncertain climate change.
For this reason, one of the aspects that is the main focus of this forum is creating investment opportunities in the water infrastructure sector. In this context, the world water forum is not only a forum for sharing knowledge and experience, but also an arena for promoting sustainable and innovative water infrastructure projects.
Expert Staff to the Minister of PUPR, Firdaus Ali, said that the World Water Forum would provide important agreements for Indonesia, one of which was bilateral and multilateral cooperation worth trillions of rupiah.
“This is not just a ceremonial activity. This is a meeting that discusses real realities on the ground so concrete steps are needed. That’s why the President of the World Bank has stated that he will also attend. “Likewise with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB),” said Firdaus Ali. [pt]
