Malaysia Looks To South Korea’s Model As Water Sector Enters Next Phase Of Transformation
From Harizah Hanim Mohamed
BUSAN, Aug 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia wants to learn from South Korea’s holistic water treatment and management as the country pushes for national water transformation.
Malaysia is now moving into the second phase of the Water Sector Transformation Roadmap 2040 (AIR 2040) under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), which focuses on developing local technology that meets international standards. The roadmap sets a long term vision to strengthen the nation’s water security, improve service reliability, and reduce dependence on imported technologies by nurturing homegrown innovation.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, said Malaysia is seeking to gain insights from South Korea’s experience, particularly in advanced technologies and best practices in managing water resources.
“Wherever we go, number one, we want to understand what are the technologies available in that particular country. What are the practices? What are the good practices that are in place and so on. That is why we are visiting Korea,” he said during a visit to the Gangbyeon Wastewater Treatment Plant.
He was accompanied by Malaysia’s Ambassador to South Korea, Datuk Mohd Zamruni Khalid, and the ministry’s Deputy Secretary-General (Energy), Mareena Mahpudz.
Fadillah is currently on an official working visit in Busan until Aug 29 in conjunction with the 15th APEC EMM.
He noted that South Korea’s success lies not only in water treatment but also in its integrated river chain management, which ensures clean water from the source and maintaining quality throughout the entire cycle.
“Of course, we can learn from them, not only in terms of water treatment, but also how they manage the entire river chain... right from the river source, how they clean the water and so on to make sure that whatever is going out and coming into the river is going to be clean,” he said.
Malaysia’s water transformation efforts are also aimed at reducing non-revenue water (NRW), upgrading ageing infrastructure, and expanding the use of digital technologies such as smart metering, real-time monitoring and data-driven management.
Fadillah’s visit to South Korea underscores Malaysia’s determination to accelerate reforms and scale up cooperation with global partners. Drawing from South Korea’s model, Malaysia aims to build a water sector that is sustainable, technologically advanced, and aligned with international best practices under AIR 2040.
-- BERNAMA