Jakarta, February 27, 2025 — In a series of events "Follow Up Meeting of the 10th World Water Forum: From Bali to Riyadh and Beyond", the World Water Council held a reflection roundtable discussion entitled "Partnerships, Deliverables, and the Road Ahead" regarding the global water sector in Jakarta on February 27-28, 2025.

“The water sector cannot be separated from the challenges and problems that can affect all aspects of life,” said Director General of Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Department at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia, Eniya Listiani Dewi. She further explained that water issues also affect the development of renewable energy. "Water is an important component in the implementation of hydropower plants. If the water sector is in trouble, efforts to develop hydropower can be hindered," she said .

"It is hoped that Indonesia can maximize the use of hydropower in the future, especially in rural areas. Public-private partnership can be one of the ways to realize hydropower development," she added.

World Water Council representative and former head of the Turkish Water Institute (SUEN) Ahmet Saatçi emphasized that water pollution is a serious problem today. "Today, water resources are polluted with various toxic substances such as chemicals and microplastics. This pollution also affects biodiversity in water as the existing flora and fauna are at risk of being contaminated with toxic substances," Ahmet said.

The Director of the Asian Development Bank's Permanent Mission in Indonesia, Jiro Tominaga, explained that the development of water resource management infrastructure and adaptation to climate change urgently need financial support. However, there is currently still a funding gap in these efforts. "Financial barriers and mobilizing finance for climate are problems that we still face and need to solve in order to develop a sustainable water sector," Jiro said.

All panelists agreed that one of the efforts that can be made to advance the global water sector is to work with different parties to agree on a common solution to the water problem. In addition, non-overlapping regulations are needed to simplify the process of implementing measures to address the challenges in the water sector.

Also present as panelists were the Head of the National Research and Innovation Center of the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Syahroma Husni Nasution, the Director General of Human Settlement of the Ministry of Public Works of the Republic of Indonesia Dewi Chomistriana and the representative of the Indonesian National Water Resources Agency Mudjiadi. The event was moderated by Patrick Lavarde, representative of the World Water Council, and Endra Saleh Atmawidjaja, Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Health and Environmental Engineers (IATPI)