Singapore, Japan share water management expertise+

SINGAPORE, Nov. 26 Kyodo - Singapore and Japan will share their expertise on water management with developing countries grappling with scarce water resources, Singapore's Foreign Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency said in a joint statement Wednesday.

The two countries are organizing a 12-day workshop on water resources
management for government officials, mainly from Southeast Asia, the Middle
East and Africa.
The workshop, in Singapore until Friday, is part of the Japan-Singapore
Partnership Program for the 21st Century by which Singapore's Foreign Ministry
and Japan cooperate to offer their expertise to developing countries.
It ''aims to share the integrated water policy strategies of Singapore and
Japan for secure, sustainable, and safe water supply and sanitation.''
It will also explore new technological options for countries with scarce water
resources.
Seventeen officials from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Botswana, Egypt,
Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen, Palestine and Uzbekistan are attending the workshop.
Since Singapore and Japan began cooperation in 1994, more than 3,400 officials
from developing countries have been trained in such diverse areas as
information technology, trade promotion, industrial development, healthcare,
education, urban planning and the environment.
Singapore depends mainly on neighboring Malaysia for its water resources but
has in recent years managed to reduce its reliance on imported water by setting
up high tech-water recycling and desalination plants.