After opening remarks by Mr. Lee Koon Yew, Mr. Vu Kim Quyen presented a report on SEAWUN from June, 2007 to June, 2008 which consisted of four following parts:

·        SEAWUN’s current situation and operation results

·        Challenges

·        The way forward

·        Planned programs and events in 2008-2009

The Board agreed on the report and was pleased to note that despite numerous objective challenges in the year of 2007, SEAWUN has gained remarkable achievements, notably in organization and membership development. The past year saw an increase of 20% in membership, making the total number of SEAWUN members up to 81. SEAWUN basic programs are being implemented as planned: the Benchmarking phase 2 has been finished; non-revenue water reduction program is ongoing. In addition to training courses to improve capacity and share experiences for members, SEAWUN is now developing NRW Action Program in which a group of experts who are experienced and strong in NRW actions will be set up and would enable the program to be implemented faster and more effectively. As a start-up activity, a workshop on framework program and implementation roadmap would be held in Vietnam in early July.

Besides maintaining cooperation with traditional donors to make effective use of their support and bring the most benefits for the largest number of its members, in the 2007- 2008 program, SEAWUN is undertaking a Study on Private Sector Participation in the Vietnam Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Program (PSP), which is part of WSP/WB and SAWAP program.

SEAWUN has expanded co-operation with International Water Association (IWA), water-related organizations in South Africa, Europe and SEA water associations… It can be noted that in 2007, the role and position of SEAWUN has been confirmed more strongly within and beyond the Southeast Asia region.

The Board members spent a lot of time discussing on new challenges both objective and subjective ones in the roadmap towards sustainable development of SEAWUN in reference to Hanoi Declaration on August, 2002 and Jakarta Statement on December, 2006. The most success of this meeting was the profound understanding of challenges of all the Board members and solutions proposed to overcome the situation and develop SEAWUN into a strong organization of SEA water and sanitation-related companies. Among others, SEAWUN would work with national water associations to organize workshops, training courses to provide knowledge and exchange experiences as well as facilitate cooperation among utilities in the region and the world.

The Board has also approved the activity plan for 2008-2009 and the financial report as well as discussed on solutions towards financial self- sustainability.

The Board has supported the idea of engaging SEAWUN coordinators in the Philippines and Indonesia, whose roles would be agreed upon by Executive Director and SEAWUN Board Members in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The 4^th SEAWUN Board Meeting has been a fruitful event. SEAWUN Board would like to extend its sincere thanks to supporting organizations and donors for their assistance and favourable conditions created by them towards the development of SEAWUN. Our sincere thanks also goes to PUB for the kind support in organizing this Board Meeting as well as facilitating participation of SEAWUN board members in Singapore International Water Week.