CHIANG MAI, May 21 – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged countries in Asia and the Pacific to promote sustainable water management to prevent war on water in the future, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.
Yingluck made the call during her speech at the national leaders’ session as part of the second Asia-Pacific Water Summit, held here from May 14-20.
In her speech, Yingluck cautioned that there could be war on water in the future, as water is borderless and flows from high to low grounds; so, water management in the region needs to be integrated because no countries can cope with floods alone.
The Thai premier also mentioned severe flooding in Asia and encouraged Asia Pacific countries to jointly protect clean water sources and to cope with disasters.
She pointed out that although severe flooding in Thailand in late 2011 affected the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth, all parties in Thailand joined forces for the recovery of the national economy, to grow by 4.6 per cent.
The Thai prime minister also told the national leaders’ session that the Thai government is investing 350 billion baht (US$11.7 billion) in water management projects.
-BERNAMA
