Global Water Crisis Knows No Borders: Malaysia Leads Call For Urgent Cooperation
PARIS, FRANCE - Media OutReach Newswire - 13 May 2025 - Malaysia calls on the international community to strengthen cooperation in addressing the global water crisis – a transboundary challenge impacting nations of rich and poor alike. Strategic partnerships and coordinated policy actions are essential to securing a sustainable and resilient water future for all.
Sharing Malaysia's experience at the Global Water Summit 2025 in Paris, Deputy Prime Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Sri Haji Fadillah Haji Yusof said, it is time for the global community to recognise water as an invaluable resource to human survival and development
While sharing Malaysia's experience at the Global Water Summit 2025 in Paris, Deputy Prime Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Sri Haji Fadillah Haji Yusof said, it is time for the global community to recognise water as an invaluable resource to human survival and development.
'Water, the lifeblood of our planet, unites us in a shared responsibility. The global water crisis, transcending borders and economies, demands urgent collaboration,' he said in his speech during the Opening Plenary: 'Delivering the Economics of Water' here today.
Sharing the nation's progressive approach to sustainable water management, Dato' Sri Haji Fadillah who is also the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), highlighted both its successes and lessons learned, reaffirming Malaysia's commitment to offering its expertise as a model for countries facing similar water security issues.
In his address, he outlined key milestones in Malaysia's water management journey, emphasising reforms that have transitioned the country from fragmented state governance to a more coordinated federal-state partnership. He also underscored Malaysia's ongoing efforts to manage growing demands, including urbanisation, climate change and industrial water use.
Key Highlights from Malaysia's Water Sector Transformation 2040 Agenda:
Dato' Sri Haji Fadillah also added that Malaysia's active role in regional efforts, particularly within ASEAN, while extended an invitation to global innovators to invest in and collaborate on the next generation of water technologies. The Malaysian government remains committed to fostering sustainable water management practices through continuous innovation, partnerships and shared global solutions.
Meanwhile, Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer, Narendran Maniam stated that resource recovery has shifted from a discretionary measure to a policy imperative, driven by the pressing need to enhance environmental resilience and ensure sustainable resource management amid escalating economic and ecological pressures.
Narendran added that for IWK, resource recovery has evolved from being a nice-to-have to a necessity, with a focus on three main drivers behind this journey:
'Our message to the broader ecosystem is simple – bring value into the equation. The door is open for collaboration. As the national sewerage company, all collaborations will be subject to transparent open tenders and due diligence,' he said at the roundtable talk 'Delivering the Capex Surge' during the summit.
Hashtag: #GlobalWaterSummit #Sustainability #IWK #NewLifeForWater #EraBaharuAir #PETRA
https://www.iwk.com.my/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/indah-water-konsortium/
https://x.com/IwkComms
https://www.facebook.com/IndahWaterKonsortium
https://www.instagram.com/iwk_official/
https://www.tiktok.com/@iwk_official
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK)
Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK), is a sewerage services company owned by Minister of Finance Incorporated, Malaysia. IWK is responsible for providing sewerage services, operating and maintaining 9,133 existing sewage treatment plants and network pump stations, as well as more than 22,000 km networks of sewerage pipelines serving 32 million Connected Population Equivalent (cPE).
Our core expertise spans Operations and Maintenance, Refurbishment, Planning & Policy Strategy, Engineering and Process Review, Project Planning and Management, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP), as well as Research & Development, and Training Services including module development. IWK has been recognised to lead capacity building projects via mentorship programme by UN Habitat and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The company has completed two projects: UN Habitat's Global Water Operators' Partnerships & Water Organization Partnerships (WOP) Project in Banjarmasin, Indonesia, and ADB's Water Organization Partnerships for Resilience (WOP4R) Programme in Baguio City, the Philippines.
For more information, visit www.iwk.com.my
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
13 minutes ago
- Forbes
New Study Reveals True AI Capabilities And Job Replacement Risk
The OECD has unveiled groundbreaking AI Capability Indicators that map artificial intelligence ... More progress against human abilities across nine key domains, revealing where AI currently stands and what's coming next. Imagine trying to navigate the digital transformation of your business using a compass that only points to "somewhere north." That's essentially what we've been doing with AI assessment until now. While tech companies have been throwing around impressive-sounding claims of superhuman performance in narrow tasks, business leaders and policymakers have been left squinting through the hype, trying to figure out what any of it actually means for the real world. The OECD has just delivered something we've desperately needed: a proper GPS system for AI capabilities. Their new AI Capability Indicators represent the most comprehensive attempt yet to create a standardized framework for understanding what AI can actually do compared to human abilities. Think of it as moving from vague headlines about "AI breakthrough" to having a detailed performance review that actually tells you something useful about real-world capabilities. Unlike the typical parade of cherry-picked benchmarks that dominate tech headlines, the OECD's approach cuts through the marketing noise. They've developed nine distinct capability scales that map AI progress against fundamental human abilities: Language, Social Interaction, Problem Solving, Creativity, Metacognition and Critical Thinking, Knowledge and Memory, Vision, Manipulation, and Robotic Intelligence. Each scale runs from Level 1 (basic, solved problems) to Level 5 (full human equivalence), with clear descriptions of what AI systems can actually accomplish at each stage. What makes this particularly helpful is how it sidesteps the technical jargon that usually makes AI assessment reports about as accessible as quantum physics textbooks. Instead of drowning in discussions of transformer architectures or neural network parameters, you get straightforward descriptions like whether an AI system can "adapt teaching methods to meet students' varying needs" or "handle objects of diverse shapes and materials in cluttered environments." The methodology behind these indicators is equally impressive. Over 50 experts across computer science and psychology spent five years developing this framework, combining rigorous academic research with practical, real-world applications. Here's where things get interesting and perhaps a bit sobering for those caught up in the AGI hype cycle. The assessment reveals that current AI systems are clustered around Levels 2 and 3 across most capabilities. We're not at the finish line; we're not even close to it. Large language models like ChatGPT score at Level 3 for language capabilities, meaning they can understand and generate semantic meaning with sophisticated knowledge, but they still struggle with analytical reasoning and have that persistent habit of confidently stating complete nonsense. It's like having a brilliant conversationalist who occasionally insists that gravity flows upward. In social interaction, even the most advanced systems barely reach Level 2. They can combine simple movements to express emotions and learn from interactions, but they're essentially sophisticated actors with no real understanding of the social dynamics they're performing. The vision capabilities tell an equally nuanced story. While AI can handle variations in lighting and target objects, performing multiple subtasks with known data variations (Level 3), it's still leagues away from the adaptable, learning-oriented visual intelligence that characterizes higher levels. For business leaders, this framework offers something really valuable: a reality check that cuts through vendor marketing speak. When a sales representative promises their AI solution will "revolutionize your operations," you can now ask pointed questions about which capability levels their system actually achieves and in which specific domains. The gap analysis between current AI capabilities and the requirements of specific business tasks becomes clearer when standardized benchmarks are in place. Consider customer service, where companies are deploying AI chatbots with the enthusiasm of gold rush prospectors. The OECD framework suggests that while AI can handle structured interactions reasonably well, anything requiring genuine social intelligence, nuanced problem-solving, or creative thinking quickly exposes current limitations. This doesn't mean AI isn't useful in customer service, but it helps set realistic expectations about what human oversight will still be necessary. It's the difference between using AI as a sophisticated tool versus expecting it to be a replacement employee. One approach leads to productivity gains; the other leads to customer complaints and public relations disasters. The framework also reveals opportunities that might not be immediately obvious. Areas where AI performs at Level 3 or higher represent genuine automation potential, while Level 2 capabilities suggest powerful augmentation opportunities. Smart businesses will use this intelligence to identify the low-hanging fruit while preparing for the longer-term implications of advancing capabilities. Perhaps nowhere are the implications more immediate and profound than in the field of education. The report's analysis of teaching capabilities reveals why educators are feeling simultaneously excited and terrified about AI's expanding role in classrooms. Many core teaching tasks require capabilities at Levels 4 and 5, particularly when it comes to adapting instruction to individual student needs or managing the complex social dynamics that make learning environments work. This creates a fascinating paradox worthy of a philosophy textbook: AI might be able to deliver standardized instruction more efficiently than humans, but the most transformational aspects of teaching, the inspiration, emotional connection, and creative problem-solving that actually change lives, remain firmly in human territory. The implications suggest we're heading toward a hybrid model that could fundamentally reshape education. AI handles routine instructional delivery, assessment, and administrative tasks, while humans focus on motivation, emotional support, creative problem-solving, and the kind of inspirational mentoring that transforms students into lifelong learners. This isn't displacement; it's specialization at a scale we've never seen before. The OECD's systematic approach provides something invaluable for strategic planning: a clear picture of what breakthrough capabilities we should be monitoring. The jump from Level 3 to Level 4 across multiple domains would represent a genuine inflection point, particularly in areas like creative problem-solving and social intelligence. What's especially revealing is how the framework illuminates the interconnectedness of different capabilities. True robotic intelligence, for instance, requires simultaneous advances across multiple domains. You can't have Level 5 robotic intelligence without corresponding progress in vision, manipulation, social interaction, and problem-solving. The framework also highlights capability areas where progress might stall or slow dramatically. Social interaction and creativity appear to have particularly steep curves between current performance and human-level capability. What the OECD has created is essentially a report card system for the AI age. Instead of being swept along by breathless predictions about artificial general intelligence arriving next week, we now have a framework for systematically tracking progress and understanding real-world implications. For businesses, this means more informed decisions about where to invest in AI capabilities and where to double down on human talent development. For policymakers, it provides a foundation for regulations and workforce planning grounded in evidence rather than science fiction. For educators, it offers a roadmap for preparing students for a world where human and artificial intelligence must work together effectively. The OECD framework isn't predicting exactly when AI will achieve human-level performance across all domains; that's still anyone's guess. Instead, it provides a common language for discussing AI capabilities and a systematic way to track progress that everyone, from CEOs to school principals, can understand and use. In a field notorious for moving fast and breaking things, having a reliable measurement system might just be what is needed.
Bloomberg
29 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
EU Braces for Tough US Trade Talks
Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg's daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union. EU trade officials face tough talks today in Paris with the US as the threat of a tit-for-tat tariff fight looms large. A day earlier, President Donald Trump signed a directive formally doubling steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%. That's likely to cast a pall over a meeting of G-7 trade chiefs in the French capital, where the EU's Maros Sefcovic and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will also hold talks. The aim is to chart progress ahead of a July 9 deadline, when Trump's so-called reciprocal duties are due to kick in. Meanwhile, the EU and China's plan for a reset in ties also hit a snag after Beijing yesterday slammed the bloc's plan to curb Chinese medical device manufacturers' access to public procurement contracts. Sefcovic met Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao yesterday and the pair agreed to work together on trade issues ahead of an EU-China summit next month, we're told. — Samuel Stolton and Jorge Valero
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US doubles steel, aluminum tariffs as OECD ministers gather
The United States doubled steel and aluminum tariffs Wednesday, casting a pall on a gathering of OECD ministers as President Donald Trump's intensifying trade war weighs on the world economy. Trump's sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike -- including levies on imported steel and autos -- have strained US ties with trading partners and sparked a flurry of negotiations to avoid the duties. And pressure is mounting as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a 38-nation grouping of mostly developed countries, cut its global growth forecast on the back of Trump's levies. Trade, consumption and investment have been affected by the tariffs, OECD chief economist Alvaro Pereira earlier told AFP, warning that the US economy will see the biggest repercussions. While some of Trump's most sweeping levies face legal challenges, they have been allowed to remain in place for now as an appeals process is ongoing. Against this tense backdrop, the Paris-based grouping is holding a ministerial meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic are set to hold talks on the sidelines of the gathering, with the bloc seeking to stave off higher levies from July 9 absent a compromise. Similarly, UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds met Greer on Tuesday to try and avert fresh tariff hikes on steel and aluminum. Despite the doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs Wednesday, imports from the UK will remain at 25 percent for now, while both sides work out duties and quotas in line with the terms of their trade pact. In their talks, Reynolds and Greer discussed a "shared desire to implement" the pact, including agreements on sectoral tariffs, as soon as possible, a UK readout said. But Trump's latest salvo raises temperatures with various partners. The European Union has said it "strongly regrets" Trump's plan to raise metals tariffs, cautioning that it "undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution" with the United States. The bloc added that it was ready to retaliate. - Looming deadline - The Group of Seven advanced economies -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- is due to hold separate talks on trade on Wednesday too. "We need to come up with negotiated solutions as quickly as possible, because time is running out," German economy minister Katherina Reiche said Tuesday, on the sidelines of OECD talks. French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin added: "We have to keep our cool and always show that the introduction of these tariffs is in no one's interest." Mexico will request an exemption from the higher tariff, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said, arguing that it is unfair because the United States exports more steel to Mexico than it imports. "It makes no sense to put a tariff on a product in which you have a surplus," Ebrard said. Mexico is highly vulnerable to Trump's trade wars because 80 percent of its exports go to the United States, its main trading partner. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the Trump administration sent letters to trading partners to push for offers by Wednesday as a deadline approached. Besides imposing 10 percent tariffs on almost all US trading partners in early April, Trump had announced higher rates for dozens of economies including the EU and Japan as he sought to pressure countries to correct practices Washington deemed unfair. These higher rates were paused for 90 days, but the halt is due to expire July 9. All eyes are also on rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. Trump has taken special aim at China this year, imposing additional levies of 145 percent on Chinese imports -- triggering Beijing's counter tariffs of 125 percent on US goods. Both sides agreed to temporarily de-escalate in May, but Trump accused China of violating the deal. The issue was China "slow walking the approval" of critical mineral exports and rare earth magnets, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender told CNBC on Monday. But he maintained Washington is making "good progress" overall in talks. alb-aue-bys/jgc/dw
