J@pan Inc Newsletter<br><div class="gmail_quote"><span lang="EN-US"><br>The 'JIN' Japan Inc Newsletter<br>A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends<br>in Japan.<br>Issue No. 442 Wednesday November 28, 2007, Tokyo
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Water Drops<br><br></span><span lang="EN-US">************WHAT DO YOU THINK OF J@PAN INC?************<br>We invite you to take a survey and to win a bottle of<br>premier gin for your troubles. Basically, we're interested to
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visit our Prints Gallery at <a href="http://www.travel67.com" target="_blank">www.travel67.com</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Down in the 'Beppu Delta' - one of the most famous towns in
<br>the world for natural 'onsen' hot springs - the issue of water
<br>scarcity could be no further from everyone's minds. As the <br>gutters steam from the abundant, onsen water flowing underneath <br>and almost every street is complete with its own public <br>bathhouse, one could get the impression that water is an
<br>infinite resource. <br><br>So it's with some irony that the first ever Asia-Pacific Water <br>Summit (APWF) is being held in Beppu City next week. <br><br>The fact of the matter is that while the majority of people in
<br>Japan have access to clean water, piped with the help of modern <br>technology, water is not as abundant in Japan as most people <br>think. In 2005, Japan was feeling the pinch as dams around Tokyo <br>began to fall, and while more regular typhoons may dump a load
<br>into the dams during summer, weather is becoming increasingly <br>unpredictable, requiring more forethought on the issue of water <br>management. <br><br>But this is but a small drop in the painful ocean of water <br>
scarcity that many nations in the Asia-Pacific region feel. <br>In Australia, for instance, there has been a drought so <br>long-term and so severe, that water restrictions are now a <br>necessary part of life. Just last week, one man was killed in
<br>front of his suburban Sydney home just for watering his garden <br>with a hose. <br><br>It makes you wonder, if this can happen in a country that <br>still has clean water on tap, what is life like for the <br>estimated 700 million citizens of the region without clean
<br>water, and if something is not done to improve water <br>management, what will life be like for everyone in the region?<br><br>The fact is that no country is unaffected by poor water <br>management, even those with an abundant supply. Japan, for
<br>instance, has large production networks spread across the region<br>that are, to a large extent, dependent upon stable, <br>cost-effective supplies of water. <br><br>[Article continues below...]<br>-----------------------------------------------------------
<br>Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo - Wednesday, December 5th<br><br>Panel Discussion Title: 'Boost Your Sales in 2008!'<br><br>Mr. Brian Nelson - President and CEO of ValueCommerce Japan<br>Mr. Dan Harris - Principal at Market Analytic Partners
<br><br>This coming December, EA-Tokyo will be inviting two past<br>speakers and entrepreneurs who are also experts in B2B<br>sales. They will be sharing some of their experiences and<br>tips for selling in Japan and then opening up the floor to
<br>questions.<br>If you are interested in boosting your sales in 2008 this<br>is an event you won't want to miss!<br><br>Date/Time: Wednesday, December 5, 7:00 pm<br>Location: Shinsei Bank Head Office 20F<br>Language: English
<br>Website: <a href="http://www.ea-tokyo.com" target="_blank">http://www.ea-tokyo.com</a><br>Email: <a href="mailto:info@ea-tokyo.com" target="_blank">info@ea-tokyo.com</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------
<br>[...continued]
<br><br>Other manufacturers are even more vulnerable, such as food and <br>drinks producers, and a rise in the cost of water will have a <br>flow on effect to consumers. Back to that drought in Australia,<br>the very real reduction in successful crops this year has seen
<br>the price of basic foodstuffs, such as bread, rise. If wheat <br>doesn't require as much water to grow as rice, it doesn't take <br>too much imagination to see what a devastating effect poor water<br>management could have on rice crops throughout Asia.
<br><br>Most importantly, access to clean water is a basic human right, <br>and a fundamental part of the United Nations' Millennium <br>Development Goals. The problem is, how do people access that <br>right when investment into the infrastructure needed to pipe the
<br>water to the people is decreasing rapidly?<br><br>And so here lies the conundrum - and a heated point of debate. <br>For many developing nations, structural adjustment loans have <br>led to a rise in the privatization of water supplies, often
<br>leading to a hefty increase in the price of water for the <br>average person. This can have an ironic repercussion for <br>development: as people fork out more of their income for water, <br>they have less for food and other goods, and so put less money
<br>into their local economy. <br><br>The other side of this argument, of course, is that <br>privatization can, at least in theory, provide much needed <br>funding for infrastructure upgrading where the governments of <br>
developing nations have no funds to complete public works <br>themselves. In turn, this upgrading helps to save massive <br>amounts of water being wasted much earlier on. <br><br>A debate like this is why the APWF is so badly needed. It will
<br>bring together some of the regions most heavyweight <br>organizations, including the Asia Development Bank (ADB), the <br>Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), The World <br>Conservation Union, and various umbrella organizations of the
<br>United Nations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization <br>of the UN, and UNESCO. In addition, leaders of the 49 countries <br>and regions in the Asia Pacific are also expected to <br>participate, and will create a forum for the much needed debate
<br>over privatization of water and many other issues. <br><br>Chaired by Former Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshiro Mori, who is <br>also the President of the Japan Water Forum, the summit was <br>first proposed at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico last year.
<br>Its main goal is to contribute to sustainable water management <br>throughout the region in order to achieve the targets set out in<br>the UN's Millennium Development Goals. <br><br>By capitalizing on the region's long history of dealing with
<br>water as a fundamental part of human existence, the summit will <br>provide a common platform for bringing ideas and innovations to <br>the table. It will cover topics such as water financing, <br>managing water for development and ecosystems and water-related
<br>disaster management. For a post-tsunami Asia this is <br>particularly important. According to the APWF, the Asia and <br>Pacific region has a disproportionately unfair 91% of the <br>world's deaths due to natural disasters in the last century.
<br><br>The results of the 1st APWF will be brought to the table at <br>other political events, such as the Tokyo International <br>Conference on Africa's Development IV (TICAD IV) and the G8 <br>Summit in 2008. This places some extra importance on the
<br>outcomes of the summit, giving an important platform for <br>developing countries to have a say in not only how they develop,<br>but also how they can play a role in conservation within the <br>region. <br><br>The 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit will be held at B-Con Plaza in
<br>Beppu City over December 3 and 4, 2007. <br>For more information, go to: <br><a href="http://www.apwf.org/project/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.apwf.org/project/index.html</a><br><br>By Willhemina Warlin<br>
Writer, J@pan Inc magazine
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<br><br></span><span lang="EN-US">****OUT NOW: J@PAN INC MAGAZINE'S****<br> IT SPECIAL (NOV/DEC 2007)<br>J-SOX Software Solutions-Virtual Machines-Industry Analysis-<br>PLUS Politics, Fashion, Business, Travel, Finance, Technology
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