As the Netherlands is widely known for its expertise in the field of water, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Malaysia was delighted to host the ASEAN trade mission to ASIA WATER 2022 in Kuala Lumpur.
The Dutch delegation consisted of colleagues from the ASEAN-5 countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia) as well as leading Dutch and Malaysian water companies (Deltares, Duvalco Valves & Fittings Pte Ltd, KWT Group, Lantect Environmental, Meever & Meever, Navaza Water Filters, NX Filtration, Paques and Royal Eijkelkamp).
The delegation was led by managing director of the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) Henk Nieboer. Together with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and Handelsroute, this Dutch delegation was able to showcase all kinds of water solutions and made ASIA WATER 2022 a true success!

Dutch water solutions

After a site visit to a water treatment plant, Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd, and a kick-off session on Tuesday, the Dutch delegation was more than ready to exhibit Dutch water solutions at the Netherlands Pavillion, which attracted many visitors and potential partners throughout the week. On Wednesday afternoon, the Netherlands Water Innovation Forum took place, consisting of panel discussions of the themes of flood resilience, water and wastewater management and data-driven water solutions.
During the forum, our distinguished guest, YBhg. Datuk Ir Abdul Kadir Mohd Din, Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, also shared some valuable insights into the water sector in Malaysia with the audience. To celebrate the successful event, Ambassador Jacques Werner hosted a networking reception at Chinoz on the park, where water partners got the chance to strengthen their network while enjoying a well-deserved drink.

The Road towards UN Water Conference 2023

On Thursday 8 December, during the official opening ceremony, the final version of the DRR report about flood mitigation in Malaysia was handed over by Marco Hartman (leader of the DRR mission) and Ambassador Jacques Werner to the newly appointed Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
In the afternoon we hosted a special session themed 'Leading the Way in Water Managament’, where both Ambassador Werner and delegation leader Henk Nieboer gave a special address on Dutch water history and nature-based solutions.
This was followed by a tripartite named “The Road towards UN Water Conference 2023”, which included short presentations given by Ambassador Werner, Ms. Karima El Korri (United Nations Resident Coordinator for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam) and Deputy Ambassador to Tatjikistan Mr. Bahodur Rahmoniv. This tripartite was organized to look ahead to the United Nations Water Conference in March 2023 in New-York, which will be co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.

Malaysia-Netherlands Water Dialogue

On the final day of ASIA WATER 2022, Friday 9 December, we were delighted to co-host the fifth Malaysia-The Netherlands Water Dialogue together with the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change. The dialogue was opened with a welcoming speech by Ambassador Jacques (Jaap) Werner and a Keynote Address by Dr. Ching Thoo, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry.
The fifth Malaysia-The Netherlands Water Dialogue was themed "Flood Risk Reduction and Climate Change Resiliency" and entailed presentations by 6 speakers. Among the speakers was Marco Hartman, who presented the final recommendations of the Dutch Risk Reduction (DRR) report. Other speakers were Henk Nieboer, Bastien van Veen,
Professor Joy Jacqueline Pereira and Mr. Marhafidz Shah bin Wan Mohd Omar, Director of Mitigation Section of NADMA. It was great to see the growing interest from both the presenters and the audience in strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of water.

Successful
In short, ASIA WATER 2022 marked a week full of successes and meaningful interactions, which we hope to continue and strengthen in the coming years as we look forward to keep on working together on water solutions in Malaysia.