Collaboration with the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
29/10/2020
1. Background
Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are major factors to drive the country’s economic and social development either in terms of raising the level of economic competitiveness or improving the quality of people’s life. Besides, STI plays an important role for readiness and preparedness in various situations such as severe natural disasters due to the climate change, food-security problems, energy crisis, etc. Collaboration with neighboring countries with STI supoprt are needed to solve these situations and drive the region to achieve the goal of sustainability.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation or MHESI (formerly known as Ministry of Science and Technology), as the main representative under the framework of the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (ASEAN COSTI), emphasizes the important of Science and Technology development for the integration of ASEAN Community by initiating various collaboration projects for the benefit of economic development, society and quality of life of ASEAN people.
On 17 December 2010, the Minister of Science from ASEAN Member States and the representative of the ASEAN Secretariat endorsed the Krabi Initiative 2010 at the 6th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science, Technology, and Innovation (AMMSTI). The Krabi Initiative consists of 8 sectoral recommendations to improve competitiveness and quality of life of ASEAN people by Science Technology and Innovation (STI) as follows:
1) ASEAN Innovation for Global Market
2) Digital Economy, New Media and Social Network
3) Green Technology
4) Food Security
5) Energy Security
6) Water Management
7) Biodiversity for Health and Wealth
8) Science and Innovation for Life
2. Collaboration
Hydro-Informatics Institute (Public Organization) or HII has cooperated with the Republic of the Union of Myanmar in term of science and technology for water management under the following projects:
2.1 DWIR cooperation
On 6 August 2018, HII has signed the Statement of Cooperation on Technology for Water Resources Management with the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems (DWIR), Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) at Yangon city, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, with the objective to support the integration of water management in Myanmar. The main scope of cooperation in this statement are: 1. Exchange of knowledge and technology and 2. Participate in relevant conferences including the ASEAN Hydroinformatics Data Center (AHC) project.
The collaboration will last for 3 years (2018 – 2021) which both parties will jointly define the action plans, such as training to exchange technology knowledge in water management and expanding cooperation in Myanmar. Both sides jointly discussed the following issues:
1) Assessment needed such as Data Management, Flood Modeling, Water Management, and etc.
2) Work and action plan
3) Appointment of a Joint Working Group (JWG) consisting of technical staff and coordinator, total of 6 people
For this purpose, DWIR is ready to support the implementation under the ASEAN Water Resources Project (AHC).
On 7 August 2018, HII visited the temporary office of Hydroinformatics Center (HIC) for studying the background, structure and function of HIC, the linkage to National Water Resources Committee (NWRC), capacity development of Young Water Professionals and Junior Researchers. HII shared ideas on organizational structure which is responsible for water management at both policy and operational levels, water management concepts and the perception of establishing water data warehouses in both countries. There were 7 topics of presentation as follows:
1) National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) – AIRBM Project C1
2) WISDM (Water Information System for Data Management)
3) DSS & Master Plan Development for The Ayeyarwady River Basin (C1.17 Development of the Ayeyarwady Decision Support System and Basin Master Plan)
4) State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA) for the Ayeyarwady River Basin, AIRBM Project (C
omponent 1 team)
5) The Multi-stakeholder Forum (MSE)
6) Role of Junior Researchers in HIC and Component 1 Young Water Professionals (YWP)
At the meeting, HII gave opinions and suggestions on the development and implementation of various technologies, including society, such as public relations projects, public forum between government agencies and local people, together with multidiscipline approach etc.
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2.2 The Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management (AIRBM) Project, The World Bank
In 2014, the World Bank has allocated a budget of 100 million US dollars to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar for The Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management (AIRBM) project. For better integrated water management of the Ayeyarwady River Basin, the project has been divided into 3 main parts; Organizational structure, Database integration, and Improving watercourses for navigation.
In 2016, the World Bank invited ‘Hydro – Informatics Institute (HII)’ to pass on knowledge and experience on the development of Hydro-Informatics Center (HIC) to the AIRBM project. HII had jointly organized 2 workshops titled “From data and information to planning” to the relevant officers from the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.ฺ Both parties eventually agreed that effective water management requires more knowledge and technologies hence the cooperation should be continued in the future.
During 2018-2023, HII, as a sub-consultant of DHI A/S, started the Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management (AIRBM) project section ‘C1.17 Development of the Ayeyarwady Decision Support System and Basin Master Plan in the 1st Component: Water Resource Management Institutions, Decision Support Systems and Capacity Building’. With an objective to develop tools for decision support on water resource management in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, integrated water resource management of the Ayeyarwady River Basin, and support training for officers from water management fields in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. (For more information, please click โครงการ AIRBM)
2.3 The Strengthened Drought and Flood Management through Improved Science Based Information Availability and Management project in Myanmar
Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) has been assigned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to develop technologies to handle climate change adaptation. To achieve the goal, CTCN has assigned the National Designated Entity (NDEs) to allocate the suitable tools to the needs of each requested country. The Environmental Conservation Department (ECD), Ministry of Environmental Conservation, Myanmar, has been designated as the primary coordinating agency of Myanmar. EDC had requested a supporting equipment for water management and climate change adaptation, thus, CTCN entered into an agreement with DHI A/S, who is an expert in producing water management tools, for this request.
During 2018-2019, HII cooperated with DHI A/S under the Strengthened drought and flood management through improved science based information availability and management project in Myanmarwhich was funded by Green Climate Fund (GCF) The project aims to develop an equipment for supporting water management and climate change adaptation through the Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN) web portal. HII has examined the accuracy of various satellite data and jointly developed the capacity of related personnel of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. (For more information, please click The Strengthened Drought and Flood Management through Improved Science Based Information Availability and Management project in Myanmar)
