DEP leads delegation to attend Belt and Road forum on environmental protection and sustainable development in Sri Lanka (with photos)
The Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, today (July 3) led a delegation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) to attend the "Symposium on Water Technology, Climate Change and Sustainable Development cum The 9th China-Sri Lanka Joint Workshop on Climate Change and Marine Sustainable Development" under the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative in Sri Lanka.
The Symposium, organised by the China-Sri Lanka Joint Research and Demonstration Centre for Water Technology (JRDC), was held in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, on July 2 and 3. Its objective was to promote co-operation with Sri Lanka and other B&R countries in various areas, including combating climate change, marine disaster mitigation, resource management and sustainable development. At the same time, the HKSARG delegation conducted in-depth exchanges with the participating parties to promote high-quality green development under the B&R Initiative. The Symposium was attended by the Sri Lankan Government, a number of national research organisations and some tertiary institutions, including the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Environment of Sri Lanka, the Central Environmental Authority of Sri Lanka, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the CAS, as well as representatives of organisations and tertiary institutions from China, the United States, Canada, Pakistan and more.
Dr Chui delivered a keynote speech at the Symposium, introducing Hong Kong's water quality management strategies, covering pollution control at source, water quality monitoring, modelling and assessment, as well as the Triple Water System (including seawater for toilet flushing and air conditioning, as well as recycling and reuse of grey water). To facilitate scientific research and academic applications by the local government and tertiary institutions, Dr Samuel Chui, on behalf of the HKSARG, donated to the Sri Lanka side two sets of computer software, including an intelligent air quality simulation platform developed by the Environmental Protection Department's air science experts specifically for Sri Lanka, and "VISJET" – for simulation and visualisation of marine discharges developed by the University of Hong Kong research team led by Honorary Professor Joseph Lee, the current President of the Macau University of Science and Technology.
"The EPD will continue to actively engage partners in the B&R region to leverage Hong Kong's experience and advantages in environmental protection to help them in achieving green and sustainable development," Dr Chui said.
The HKSARG delegation, comprising representatives from the EPD, the Water Supplies Department, the Drainage Services Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, attended the Water Technology Exchange Forum yesterday (July 2) and had in-depth exchanges with officials from government agencies such as the Central Environment Authority and the Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage of Sri Lanka, sharing Hong Kong's successful experience in water resources management, application of smart-technologies and modelling in water quality management, sewage collection and treatment technology and infrastructure planning, modern aquaculture technologies and bioremediation of polluted sediments. Representatives from the EPD also shared their experience in bacteriological water quality monitoring for bathing beaches, and provided demonstration training to Sri Lankan technicians on water sample collection, testing and data analysis.
Dr Chui will visit Kandy tomorrow (July 4) to deliver an opening address at the International Symposium on "Improving Air Quality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Monitoring, Modelling and Pollution Control" organised by the JRDC. Representatives from the EPD will also share Hong Kong's successful experience in applying innovation and technology to enhance air quality management.
Dr Chui said that the visit by the HKSARG delegation and the in-depth technical exchanges with experts, scholars and industry stakeholders from Sri Lanka manifested the concrete implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on professional staff development signed between the EPD and the Central Environment Authority of Sri Lanka last September. It is conducive to further deepening the partnership established between the two sides to jointly take forward high-quality green development under the B&R Initiative, achieving the goals of environmental protection and sustainable development.
