Activities (FY2022)

WASA-F and the YWWB signed an MOU on technical exchange in October 2019, on the request of WASA-F, which had recognized the activities of YWWB through a previous Yokohama Water Company project.In August 2022, the YWWB hosted an online seminar, inviting not only WASA-F but also Water and Sanitation Agency Lahore (WASA-L), which is the capital of Punjab province where WASA-F is located.The participants had a discussion on four themes: water distribution management, non-revenue water management, human resource development, and manual/SOP creation.Two companies made presentations to a total of 49 executives from WASA-F and WASA-L.Pakistani private companies also participated in the seminar and joined the discussion.

The YWWB has cooperated on the JICA Technical Cooperation Project "Project of Capacity Building on Non-Revenue Water Prevention Measures in Lilongwe City, Republic of Malawi" since June 2019.The YWWB has dispatched staff to the Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) and worked to improve water supply business in Malawi as “Team Yokohama” together with Kyowa Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. and Yokohama Water Co., Ltd., which are both members of YWBA.In 2022, the YWWB held two technical training courses in Japan. In the first course, YWWB introduced the activities of the YWBA and two member companies gave presentations.

The YWWB gave training sessions on non-revenue water prevention measures to the Republic of South Africa in cooperation with Yokohama Water Co., Ltd.
These training sessions were held for DWS, SALGA, and the staff of waterworks bureaus in the Republic of South Africa.During the training course held in October 2022, the YWWB gave lectures on various fields such as leakage surveys, water distribution management, meter reading, water billing and human resources development.Also, during these two training courses, a total of five YWBA member companies gave presentations.

Based on the agreement on friendly exchange between cities of Yokohama and Shanghai, the Yokohama Waterworks Bureau (YWWB) and Shanghai Water Authority (SWA) have developed their partnership for nearly 40 years. As regular activities, mutual visits or training programs in Yokohama have been conducted on a yearly basis. However, since 2020, the YWWB and SWA have held online seminars instead. At the seminar in 2022, after the presentations about initiatives for reducing carbon emissions in Yokohama and Shanghai, the participants had an active discussion. The seminar was open to member companies, and five participants from four companies joined the seminar as observers.

The City of Yokohama exhibited with a booth at Viet Water 2022, the largest water-related exhibition in Vietnam. We also gave a presentation at a technical seminar.
In addition to introducing the city's water and sewage efforts through posters and videos at our exhibition booth, we also promoted the Yokohama Water Business Association in cooperation with participating member companies.

The YWWB has been accepting trainees from Africa for the past several years, a program that was inspired by the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development held in Yokohama in May 2008. Since 2009, the YWWB has hosted training courses for waterworks engineers from African countries every year, in cooperation with JICA and Yokohama Water Co., Ltd., the YWWB has accepted 145 waterworks engineers from 32 African countries by the FY 2022.
In 2022, an online program was held in September to October and an in person program was held in November. During the course, five YWBA member companies introduced Japanese technology.

YWC was contracted by JICA for “The Project for Improvement of Management Capacity of Water Supply Sector in Faisalabad” in February 2022. In cooperation with JICA and Yokohama Water Co., Ltd., the YWWB hosted five waterworks engineers from WASA-F for training.
Three YWBA member companies presented their business and technologies.

The closing seminar was held on December 27, 2022, marking the conclusion of the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project "Project of Capacity Building on Management of Sewage Works in Hanoi (Phase 2)," which was implemented for about 10 years following Phase 1, which began in 2014. There was a high level of interest from local stakeholders in the introduction of technology by member companies at the seminar.
Also, during the networking session in the second half, seven private water treatment business operators and member companies, including Director Võ Nguyên Phong of the Department of Construction, engaged in deeper exchange and provided support for the local development of each company.

With the completion of the local activities of the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project in Hanoi, Vietnam by the City of Yokohama, a reporting session was held at JICA Yokohama to share the results of the activities and the closing seminar onsite in Hanoi.

In addition to introducing various overseas support schemes from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and JICA, we also introduced the local business of the association member company's sewage treatment facility in the Philippines. 21 people from 14 companies participated.

In the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project (Special Frame for Local Development), in FY2022, we promoted technical cooperation activities such as on-site training in conjunction with online meetings with employees at our counterpart organization, Hanoi City Department of Construction (DOC).
In addition, two member companies* cooperated in this activity and conducted training for employees of the Hanoi City Department of Construction (DOC) on technologies related to the sewerage ledger management system and the appropriate maintenance of wastewater treatment plants.
* PASCO.Inc and MT AQUAPOLYMER. Inc