the autralian delegation to vietwater 2016 · day 5 at vietwater 2016 day 5 saw the australian –...

proudly supported by:

The Autralian Delegation To Vietwater 201607-11 November 2016Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

2

Background to australian Water association program in VietnamVietnam has emerged as one of the most economically ambitious South East Asian countries, having opened its doors to foreign participation and trade with a swathe of recently released legislation. And with this has come a thirst for Australian water capabilities.

The Australian Water Association (The Association) recognises the shift in Australia’s and Vietnam’s development cooperation, from a relationship based on development aid to one which strengthens its focus on trade and investment, by helping to improve the business climate and expand the scope of business opportunities for mutual benefit.

The Association, in partnership with the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association, with support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), has undertaken a series of initiatives designed to support this transition by strengthening relations and sharing of expertise and technological innovations in water.

The principle focus of the Association’s work in Vietnam over the past 2.5 years has been to:

◗ Strengthening the governance, financial and investment structures of the Vietnam water sector.

◗ Strengthening the role of the private sector.

◗ Trade promotion and capacity building.

The Australian program and delegation to Vietwater16 combines all three above elements. This report provides a summary of the outcomes from the Australian delegation to Vietwater16.

Background to the australian delegation to VietWaterVietwater2015 was a significant milestone in connecting the Australian and Vietnamese water sectors which saw the largest Australian delegation to ever travel to Vietnam including over 60 water professionals from the private sector, government, R&D and water utilities.

Building from the momentum established at Vietwater 2015, and the range of activities the Association has delivered under the DFAT Economic Diplomacy initiative, AWA hosted the largest Vietnamese water delegation to ever travel to Australia for Ozwater’16 (60 delegates including Ministerial officials, water utilities and private sector companies).

The Australian delegation to Vietwater 2016 continued this momentum with an even larger Australian delegation of 72 individuals from the private sector, Government, R&D institutions and water utilities participating.

Outcomes from the Australia delegation to Vietwater

3

Overview of Vietwater missionDay 1 at Vietwater 2016

November 7 marked the first day of the Australian delegation mission to Vietwater 2016 where Australian delegates were provided with an in-country briefing. The briefing introduced Australian delegates to water professionals working in Vietnam and allowed an opportunity for delegates to gain a first-hand understanding of the experiences, lessons, opportunities and challenges of doing business in Vietnam. Delegates heard from

◗ Australian Water Association, President and International Manager

◗ ANZ Bank CEO

◗ DFAT

◗ SMEC

◗ Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association

◗ Austrade

◗ SC Capital Partners

◗ Baker and McKenzie

◗ Victorian Government

◗ Australian Chamber of Commerce

◗ Australian utilities participating in twinning

◗ AK Partners

Dennis Hussey, CEO ANZ Vietnam briefing the Australian delegates on doing business in Vietnam

4

Day 2 at Vietwater 2016

Following the in-country briefing on the first day of Vietwater, the Australian delegates had a site tour to Mekong Water Utilities. The tour took them to two large water utilities in Mekong region: Saigon Water Corporation (SAWACO) which currently serves 7,950,000 customers, and Binh Duong Water Supply Sewerage and Environment Company (BIWASE) which serves 935,946 customers.

At the tour the two Australian utilities Seqwater and Wannon Water were introduced to two Vietnamese water companies, SAWACO and BIWASE, for the purpose of twinning.

SAWACO showcased to the Australian delegates one of their Built Own Operate (BOO) water treatment plants in Thu Duc district, and BIWASE provided a tour of one of their eight treatment plants where waste from treatment processes is used for brick manufacturing.

The site tour ended with a warm welcome reception for Australian delegates and invited guests at the Australian Consulate-General’s residence in Ho Chi Minh City. They heard from the Australian Ambassador, Australian Consul General, the Association’s President, CEO of ANZ Bank and VIPs from the Vietnamese water sector, and had great opportunities for networking as well.

Overview of Vietwater mission

Australian General-Consul addressing the Australian delegates and dignitaries at the Welcome Reception

5

Australian Ambassador addressing the Australian delegates and dignitaries at the Welcome Reception

Australian Water Association’s President Peter Moore addressing the Australian delegates and dignitaries at the Welcome Reception

6

Left to right: Cristiano Carvalho, WaterCorp; Paul Smith, Australian Water Association; Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Association’s President Peter Moore, and Katrina Bukauskas, WaterCorp at the Welcome Reception

Australian delegation visit to Thu Duc water treatment plant – Sai Gon Water

Australian delegation visit to Di An water treatment plant – Binh Duong Water

7


The opening day of Vietwater 2016 commenced on 9 November at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre where over 10,000 delegates made their way through the exhibition, including VIPs from across the Vietnam water sector and the globe.

The Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Craig Chittick, and Australian Consulate-General Karen Lanyon, together with staff from the Australian Embassy, visited the Australian Pavilion in the early morning to meet with Australian exhibitors before participating in the opening ceremony.

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam (second left) and Australian Water Association President Peter Moore (first left) at the Opening Ceremony of Vietwater 2016

8

Peter Moore at the Opening Ceremony of Vietwater 2016

Australian Water Pavilion. An Nguyen, Australian Water Association International Coordinator at the Pavilion

Australian Ambassador (second right), Association’s President Peter Moore (left), Association’s International Manager Paul Smith (right) and Association’s International Coordinator An Nguyen (second left) at Australian Water Pavilion

9

Australian Water Association’s President Peter Moore, CEO of VWSA Cao Lai Quang, Vice Minister of Ministry of Construction, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam

Australian Ambassador introducing Australian technologies to Vice Minister of Ministry of Construction at the Australian Water Pavilion

Bruce Biltoft from Evoqua providing a demonstration of their ultra-filtration units to the Ambassador and Vietnam Water Minister

10


Day 4 of the exhibition involved a wide range of workshops and technical seminars organised by the Australian Water Association and the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association.

Over 100 participants attend the Vietnam-Australia workshop on water quality management, allowing delegates to hear from Vietnamese and Australian experts on water quality management and innovative low-cost technology that can be used in urban, rural and remote towns in Vietnam.

Peter Moore was a keynote speaker to a packed audience on WaterCorp’s experience in managing the impacts from a shifting climate.

Water Quality and technology demonstration workshop

11


Day 5 saw the Australian – Vietnam workshop on twinning with a separate workshop on private sector participation and alternative forms of financing water infrastructure in Vietnam. Agreement was reached on plans of action by each utility at the twinning workshop including:

◗ Son La Water – Cairns Council

◗ Saigon Water – SEQWater

◗ Binh Duong – Wannon Water

◗ Phu Tho – Coliban Water

◗ Hue Water Corporation – Water Corporation

The Private Sector Participation (PSP) workshop outlined the evolution of PSP in the Australian water sector and showcased examples and benefits of PSP across the Australian water sector with solutions for overcoming the barriers to PSP in the Vietnam water sector.

Brian Butturini, SMEC, presenting on Characteristics for successful PPP – experiences from around Asia

12

Twinning Workshop - Twins include: Coliban Water – Phu Tho Water, WA Water Corporation – Hue Water, Wannon Water – Binh Duong Water, Cairns Council – Son La Water, SEQ Water – Sai Gon Water

Stella Saris, Director of Project and Structured Finance Loans and Specialised Finance, ANZ Bank, presenting on financing water infrastructure and PPPs

13

Highlights

The Australian delegation to Vietwater16 was the largest delegation to ever travel to Vietnam and included 72 Australian participants from Government, R&D, private sector and five Australian water utilities involved in twinning with five Vietnamese water companies.

The Australian companies involved in the Vietwater delegation have responded in the post event survey that they all made promising business leads valued at over A$15M for the next 12 months. This is expected to increase beyond 12 months.

Vietwater 2016 attracted over 400 exhibitors from 41 countries including 11 international pavilions: Australia, Belgium, Japan, Singapore, Finland, China, France, Korea, Hungary, Taiwan and the EU. The exhibition saw over 10,000 industry trade attendees from all segments of water and energy sectors including wastewater treatment, water supply, sewerage, energy saving and renewable energy.

The Association’s Pavilion won the best and most informative pavilion award at Vietwater.

Over 350 Vietnam water professionals attended the Australian workshops during Vietwater including:

◗ Water quality and technology demonstration workshop

◗ International workshop on climate change and salinisation (delivered in partnership with IWA)

◗ Technical seminars

◗ Private sector participation and alternative forms of financing water infrastructure

◗ Twinning workshop

The Australian delegates were provided site tours of Binh Duong Water Company and Saigon Water Company (servicing over 9 million customers).

Agreement was reached between the 5 Australian and 5 Vietnamese water utilities on a twining program designed to build capacity

of individuals and organisations within Vietnam and Australian water sector in implementing water reform objectives.

The Association is now securing funding to facilitate the following twinnings:

◗ Son La Water – Cairns Council

◗ Saigon Water – SEQWater

◗ Binh Duong – Wannon Water

◗ Phu Tho – Coliban Water

◗ Hue Water Corporation – Water Corporation

Many of the Australian companies formed new domestic partnerships and joint ventures whilst in Vietnam.

Several media articles were published on the Australian delegation by Vietnam media including: Vietnam Agriculture News, Vietnam Business News and HTV News Chanel.

Several Vietnamese water professionals engaged by the Association to support the Australian delegation have now been provided jobs with Australian companies. For example, Pacific Environment employed three Vietnamese water professionals during the mission to establish an office presence in Vietnam.

Many of the Australian exhibitors responded in the past event survey that they have secured an in-country partner and distributor for their technology.

Asked the question: “what type of organisation did you connect with?”, participants’ responses were:

◗ Government 70.0%

◗ Private Sector 80.0%

◗ NGO 10.0%

◗ Utility 90.0%

◗ Investors 20.0%

14

Vietnam participants involved in the Australian program

Vietnam Ministries:

◗ Ministry of Construction

◗ Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

◗ Ministry of Planning and Investment

◗ Ministry of Health

◗ Ministry of Natural Resource and the Environment

◗ Ministry of Finance

Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association

Vietnamese water utilities:

◗ 5 Vietnam utilities involved in the twinning program

◗ 14 Vietnam utilities involved in the broader Association program

Vietnam Universities: University of Architecture, Water Resource University, National University HCMC, RMIT

Vietnamese private sector companies: Aquaculture, Urban Water, Rural Water, technology providers/distributors, horticulture, agriculture, industrial parks, consultants

World Health Organisation

World Bank and Asian Development Bank

Media: Vietnam Agriculture News, Vietnam Business News, HTV News Chanel (main news chanel in Vietnam TV)

CEO of Manila Water

Lao Water Minister

Cambodian Water Minister

German Water Partnership and GIZ (collaborating with the Association on the activities in Vietnam)

Belgian Development Agency (collaborating with the Association on activities in Vietnam)

Provincial Governments

15

Twinning outcomes

The overarching purpose of the Australia-Vietnam twinning program is to build capacity of individuals and organisations within Vietnamese and Australian water sectors in implementing water reform objectives in the following areas:

◗ Asset management

◗ Advanced water technology

◗ Minimizing non-revenue water

◗ Operationalising water safety plans

◗ Supply / demand planning

◗ Business management

◗ Integrated information systems

The twinning program and Australian utility representatives at Vietwater16 include:

1. Son La Water – Cairns Council (Graham O’Byrne, CEO Cairns Water)

2. Saigon Water – SEQWater (Will Harpham, Manager Legal Councel)

3. Binh Duong – Wannon Water (Gary McLay, Manager Assets)

4. Phu Tho – Coliban Water (David Sheehan, General Manager, Water Quality)

5. Hue Water Corporation – Water Corporation (Cristiano Carvalho, Asset Requirements Planner)

The workshop achieved its objectives regarding introducing the twinning utilities, scoping out priority areas of focus, understanding organisational constraints and drafting a plan of action to implement twinning partnerships.

The proposed twinning arrangements have been endorsed by the Vietnam Government, through the Vice Minister for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - Vice Minister Thang, the Vice Minister for the Ministry of Construction - Vice Minister Linh, and Mr Quang, CEO of the VWSA. The proposal for twinning has also been endorsed by the ADB and World Bank in Vietnam.

Information and lessons learnt from the twinning will be shared across the Vietnam utilities and extended across the Vietnam water sector through the networks of the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (the Association’s MoU Partner) and the various water agencies that the Association is working with.

The Association is now looking to secure funding to support the five twins implement the twinning action plans.

Special thanks to The Australian Water Partnership for their support of the twinning

16

Testimonials from Vietwater delegates

Vietwater 2016 activities will enable a new level of cooperation between the Australian and Vietnamese water sectors, ensuring the sharing of expertise and experience in the fast-transitioning water sector in Vietnam. The Australian Water Association has become the key partner in Australian aid programs to bring the newest and the best water treatment technologies to Vietnam.

I am delighted to announce that the AWA and the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA) will soon commence a water operator twinning program to share knowledge and expertise between five Australian and five Vietnamese water utilities.

Craig Chittick, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam

“We gained invaluable insight into doing business in Vietnam as well as developing an enhanced first hand understanding of the Country’s specific Water / Environmental challenges and we also identified a number of potential opportunities, resulting in a RFP”.

“This was my first AWA delegation to Vietnam and I felt it was one of the best delegations I have ever attended. It was so well organised, with outstanding and professional communication and support throughout the entire process that I am unable to think of any additional constructive comments in relation to how it could have been improved”.

Adrian Zammit General Manager – Australasia, Pacific Environment

17


“Congratulations on a very successful and productive mission and my sincere thanks to you for all your hard work and outstanding efforts in arranging and supporting businesses like ours prior, during and following the event”

Damian Seaton, Head of Business Development, Pacific Environment

“Vietwater was very informative and my understanding of the issues has increased enormously. The Australian stand was excellent and stood out very well in all that competition”

Tim Hyde, General Manager, AK Partners

“This was the first time UNSW has participated in Vietwater. We found the experience very rewarding and made some useful contacts in the university, government and private sectors. We appreciate the great work that AWA has done in facilitating the involvement of Australian organisations and presenting Australia in a very favourable and professional light in the region. Congratulations to Paul and An for their superb effort.”

Professor Nick Schofield, Director, Global Water Institute – University of New South Wales

18


My wife Carolyn and I recently participated in the AWA organised trip to Vietwater 2016 and we couldn’t be happier. The results for our business through the contacts and opportunities created directly by Paul Smith along with the assistance of An Nguyen were nothing short of amazing. Not only did we come away with three offers from overseas companies for sole distribution rights to sell our desalination units overseas, we also had half a dozen serious requests for quotes for treatment of their water supplies, all varying in different sizes of application. So from our stand point, Carolyn and I couldn’t be happier, and highly recommend other companies to certainly jump on board with future excursions organised by AWA. This was our third overseas trip away with AWA, and certainly won’t be the last.

Brian Shultz, Salt Free Desalination

“The experience in Vietnam was fantastic. Our Vietnamese friends are strongly focused on enhancing their water and wastewater industry so regardless if you are providing goods and service or you are part of the AWA / VWSA twinning program there are plenty of real business opportunities which will ultimately support the overall development of the country.

The Vietnamese are incredibly welcoming and will definitely make you feel at home. I was particularly impressed by the culture and history of the Hue province.

I had the opportunity to meet Hue WACO, one of the forefront water utilities in Vietnam and the Water Corporation’s twinning company. Hue WACO has prioritised areas for the twinning program based on its own business needs and the twinning program development is now underway.

Cristiano Carvalho, Asset Requirements Planner, Asset Investment Planning Metro WA WaterCorp

19

Join Vietwater 17 and Ozwater 17

Register your interest to attend the Australian Delegation to Vietwater 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City with An Nguyen at [email protected]

Register to participate in:

◗ Booth tour ◗ Site tour showcase◗ Workshop

Register your interest with An Nguyen at [email protected]

Join the Vietnam Delegation at Ozwater 2017

Embracing innovation and disruption for a smart water fut]ure

20

1. Huong Nguyen, AWA member, Water professional/Civil Engineer

2. Hong Trang Nguyen, PhD Candidate, School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology

3. Katrina Bukauskas, Engineer, Surface Water Operations, Aroona Alliance WaterCorp

Special thanks to three Association volunteers at Vietwater

Huong Nguyen, Hong Trang Nguyen, Dr Peter Kovalsky, Professor Nick Schofield, Dr Nguyen Hong Tien, Yvonne Chan, Professor Tran Duc Ha

21

The VWSA is a key partner of the Association in Vietnam and provides critical services to build the capacity of the Vietnamese water sector and connect them with the Australian water sector.

Thanks to the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association Staff

proudly supported by:

the autralian delegation to vietwater 2016 · day 5 at vietwater 2016 day 5 saw the australian –...

Documents