On October 28th 2008, the 5th Board Meeting, term 2 was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR after the successful SEAWUN Leadership Forum on water and sanitation.

The Meeting recognized the two new Board members who were Mr. Chong Hou Chun, Director - Water Supply Network Department, Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore and Mr. Achmand Marju Kodri - President Director, Indonesia Water Supply Association (PERPAMSI). Mr. Chong Hou Chun is the first Board member of SEAWUN from Singapore while Mr. Achmand Marju Kodri is the third Indonesia Board member after Mr. Kumala Siregar and Mr. Godman Ambarita. It is hoped that the strengthened Board would strengthen SEAWUN as well in the time to come.

According to the report of the meeting, the year 2008 saw an impressive increase of 27% in membership, making the total number of SEAWUN members up to 83 in 7 countries. The Benchmarking Program phase 2 funded by ADB was completed and the third phase was started with a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. The Non-revenue water reduction program has been added with another component – a proposal on NRW rapid action plan aiming at providing practical experiences for participating companies. The twinning program has also been extended to cover some preliminary discussion on twinning arrangements between SEA water utilities and South Africa and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the Study on Private Sector Participation in Water and Sanitation has started with phase 2. In addition, a lot of events were organized and co-organized by SEAWUN.

The Board discussed on the work plan for 2009, including the following main activities:

·         Benchmarking Program for some Southeast Asian Water Utilities 2009

·         Non-revenue water reduction Program: Arrange for implementation of the Project NRW RAPID ACTION TASK FORCE PILOT

·         Twinning Program:Monitor/assess the existing twinning program; Promote the Twinning Program of SEAWUN between its members and water utilities in other continents; Organize a visit of Delegation from South African water utilities to SEA countries

·         Study on Private Sector Participation in Water and Sanitation in Vietnam

·         Organize study tours on wastewater in SEA countries

·         Workshop on international experiences in waste­water handling

·         Support Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) in June, 2009

·         Organize Business Forum on Southeast Asian Water and Sanitation as part of SIWW 2009

·         Take part in international events: IWA - ASPIRE Conference and Exhibition and International Water Utility Leaders Forum, Taiwan, October, 2009…

The challenges still remain with financial sustainability, that requires a lot of effort of SEAWUN itself and the support of the members and partners. In fact, creation of active and strong participation and contribution from members, national water associations and water departments would be an important factor. Meanwhile, SEAWUN would also extend its activity programs to help improve performance of its members through annual events, training, dissemination of best practices and consultancy services. Besides, SEAWUN would develop cooperation with ASEAN, International Water Associations and other water partners in the region and the world: Asia Pacific, South Africa, Europe, West Asia, South Asia…