WATER prices must go up if the region's water woes are to be addressed.
This politically sticky issue will be among the concerns that Asia-Pacific leaders will grapple with when they convene in Japan on Monday for the inaugural Asia-Pacific Water Summit.

Some 300 representatives from 49 countries will be at the two-day dialogue.
'We hope to seek commitment from the region's leaders to move water higher up on their national development agendas,' said Singapore's Ambassador- at-large Tommy Koh, who is also chairman of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum, the event's organiser. The summit is expected to be held every two to three years.

Key on the agenda: increasing public and private investment in water and sanitation projects.

The Philippine-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that some US$20 billion (S$29 billion) will be needed annually to help build the region's water and sanitation infrastructure over the next decade.

ADB, which is also a sponsor of the Japanese water summit, already invests some US$2 billion annually in water operations.

Another of its efforts to improve water infrastructure isthe launch of the Asian Water and Development Outlook report, penned by noted water experts, including Stockholm Water Prize laureate Professor Asit Biswas.

One message is that, with the increasing need to improve water services, it is 'impossible to continue with the traditional idea of providing drinking water free of cost or at highly subsidised rates'.

A United Nations report pegged the price of water in India at just US$0.01 per cubic m, while Cambodians pay just US$0.09. These countries also suffer some of the most severe water shortages and sanitation problems in the region.
Households in Singapore pay $1.17 per cubic m.

'By diluting the definition of access to clean water and considering sanitation only in a very restricted sense, developing countries, including many in Asia, are mortgaging their future in terms of water security,' said Prof Biswas.

The Stockholm Water Prize is the highest honour in the water industry.
The summit outcomes will be presented at future political events, including the G8 summit in Japan next year.

Live updates from each day's sessions will be available online at www.ips.org