The first SWA Asia and the Pacific Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) was held on 2 December. It builds on previous global Finance Ministers Meetings organized by SWA in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017.
The SWA Asia and the Pacific FMM was co-convened by global partners UNICEF and the World Bank Water Global Practice, as well as our regional partner, the Asian Development Bank.
The objective of the SWA Asia and the Pacific FMM was to develop and strengthen partnerships with finance ministers in the region for smart investments in water, sanitation and hygiene. The meetings underscored the crucial role of water, sanitation and hygiene to the Asian economy, population and environment during and after COVID-19, and offered ministers practical avenues for financing the sector.
The SWA Asia and the Pacific FMM was live-streamed and simultaneous translated in English, French and Spanish.
The SWA Asia and the Pacific FMM is preceded by a 2-month preparatory process that will rely on multi-stakeholder dialogue at country level to ensure that finance and sector ministers are briefed and ready to actively participate in the FMM.
PARTICIPANTS
FINANCE AND SECTOR MINISTERS
Hon. Ibrahim Ameer
Minister of Finance, Maldives
Hon. Malik Amin Aslam
Federal Minister and Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Climate Change
Hon. Ajith Nivard Cabraal
State Minister of Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms, Deputy Finance Minister, Sri Lanka
Speaker
Hon. Dr. Hussain Rasheed Hassan
Ministry of Environment, Maldives
Hon. Nguyen Hoang Hiep
Vice Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD), Vietnam
Hon. Tazul Islam
Minister of Local Governance, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Bangladesh
Speaker
Mr Febrio Nathan Kacaribu
Deputy Minister and Head of Fiscal Policy Agency, Indonesia
Speaker
Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum
Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Civil Service and Communications, Fiji
Speaker
Hon. Bina Magar
Minister of Water Supply, Nepal
Hon. Suharso Monoarfa
Minister of National Development Planning, Indonesia
Hon. Vasudeva Nanayakkara
Minister of Water Supply, Sri Lanka
Hon. Prof. Suahasil Nazara
Vice Minister of Finance, Indonesia
Hon. Bishnu Prasad Paudel
Minister of Finance, Nepal
Speaker
Hon. Josaphat Rizal Primana
Acting Deputy Minister of Facilities and Infrastructure, Indonesia
Hon. Shehan Semasinghe
Ministry of Development Banks and Loans, Sri Lanka
Hon. Shri. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Minister of Jal Shakti, India
Speaker
Hon. Ouk Rabun
Minister of Rural Development, Cambodia
Hon. Bounkong Syhavong
Minister of Health, Lao PDR
Hon. Dorji Tshering
Minister of Works and Human Settlement, Bhutan
Hon. Jone Usamate
Minister for Infrastructure and Meteorological Services, Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Fiji
Hon. Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht
Provincial Minister of Punjab for Finance, Pakistan
Hon. Ismail Ali Manik
Minister of State for Finance, Maldives
Heads of United Nations agencies, International Financial Institutions, and organizations
Henrietta Fore
Executive Director, UNICEF
Speaker
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Director General, World Health Organization
Speaker
Kevin Rudd
High-level Chair, SWA
Speaker
Vedika Bhandarkar
Chief Global Impact Officer, water.org
Speaker
Ambassador Christian Frutiger
Assistant Director-General and Head of Global Cooperation, SDC
Speaker
Perry Rivera
COO, Manila Water
Speaker
Oyun Sanjaasuren
Director of Division of External Affairs, Green Climate Fund
Speaker
Jyoti Shukla
Director, Singapore Infrastructure and Urban Development Hub, World Bank
Speaker
Bambang Susantono
Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Asia Development Bank
Speaker
Juliet Willetts
Research Director and Professor, UTS-ISF
Speaker
Amano Yusuke
Senior Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency
Speaker
Patrick Moriarty
Steering Committee Chair, SWA
Speaker
Karin Hulshof
Regional Director, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific
The Finance Ministers' Meeting preparatory process
Engage in a dedicated preparatory process to strengthen and catalyze in-country dialogues and actions, and prepare Ministers of Finance for their participation at the FMM.
Global co-conveners
Regional co-convener
FINANCING WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE IN ASIA
Closing the financing gap can be achieved through a combination of measures, including maximizing the use of existing resources and mobilizing additional finance from taxes, tariffs and transfers. Although Asian countries are at different stages of socio-economic development and will have different political and governance arrangements that will be more or less conducive to different forms of financing, they all have something in common: the need to increase the prioritization of water, sanitation and hygiene in national plans and budgets, especially during a time of public health concerns.
Several Asian countries are implementing innovative policies that are already proving the positive impact of water, sanitation and hygiene investment. These case-studies are included in SWA’s Water & Sanitation: How to Make Public Investment Work - A Handbook for Finance Ministers.
Water and Sanitation - How to make public investment work
A Handbook for Finance Ministers
The FMM will also draw on practical financing approaches from the Finance Handbook. Watch videos below from countries in Asia that have successfully implemented innovative financing mechanisms.
Webinars
Documents
View all Key documents| Key documents | Type |
|---|---|
| SWA Report on the 2020 Finance Ministers’ Meetings | |
| 2020 Finance Ministers' Meetings: Ideas and suggestions for follow-up at country level | |
| Agenda: SWA Asia Finance Ministers' Meeting | |
| FMM 2020 - CSO Messages | |
| About the 2020 FMMs | |
| Launch of the Handbook for Finance Ministers and kick-off of the preparatory process for the Finance Ministers' Meeting | |
| Guidance Note: 2020 virtual Regional Finance Ministers' Meetings |
