Jakarta (VNA) –Indonesia will take advantage of the 10th World Water Forum that the countryslates to host in May next year to seek opportunities to impr✤ove clean waterservices.

Speaking at the firstconference on Water Innovative Finance taking place recently in Jakarta,Firdaus Ali, Senior Advisor in Water Resources to Indonesia’s Minister ofPublic Works and Housing, said just 21.69% of the country’s populationhave accessed tap water services and that there is space for the private sectorto join water resource management sector.  Indonesia is facingchallenges to meet the demand for clean and drink water in the country becauseof insufficient infrastructure. In localities, people still use drilled wellwater for daily use while in Jakarta, people have a dependent habit of usingbottled water. According to the IndonesianCentral Statistics Office, in 2022, the coverage of clean water services in thecapital reach 65.85% out of its population of more than 10.6 million people. Under the Mid-Term NationalDevelopment Plan 2020-2024, Indonesia aims to have 10 million clean water pipeconnections to households. The work is estimated to cost 123.4 trillion rupiahs(more than 8 billion USD). Meanwhile, it is expectedthat the state budget for the period 2020-2024 can only provide 17% (equivalentto about 21 trillion rupiahs), local budgets provide 13%, and the remaining 70%need to call for investment from different sources. With such challenges, the10th world water forum is expected to become a driving force and an opportunityto promote the development of clean water infrastructure for the SoutheastAsian nation.    World Water CouncilPresident Loic Fauchon emphasised that the main water-related problem thatSoutheast Asian countries are facing today is the large number of waterresources that are not well managed. Besides, massive population growth is alsoa challenge to meet the demand for clean water, so the forum will be a placeto create a driving force to promote cooperation for water management. Indonesia will host theforum "Water of Shared Prosperity" from May 18-23, 2024. It isexpected to contribute to responding to challenges posed by population growth,poverty, and urbanisation. The forum agenda focuses on efforts to save water,provide clean water and sanitation, food and energy security, and reducenatural disasters such as floods and droughts./.