Malaysian-Danish Firms to Work Towards Water Conservation in Malaysia

On December 10, 2007 The Royal Danish Embassador of Malaysia, Borge Petersen, together with YB Dato’ Shaziman Abu Mansor the Deputy Minister of Energy, Water and Communications witnessed the signing ceremony between two pairs of Malaysian-Danish firms, EnviDan A/S and Darco Water Systems Sdn Bhd, and Odense Vandselskab A/S and Taliworks Sdn Bhd in areas of water conservation and reducing water pollutants.
EnviDan A/S and Darco Water Systems Sdn Bhd will establish a joint-venture (JV) with the transfer of technology and knowledge to treat  heavily polluted wastewater in the bio-diesel and palm oil based industry. The JV company will eventually move onto other untapped areas of wastewater treatment such as in the food processing industry and landfills wastewater.
Meanwhile, the main objective in the partnership between Odense Vandselskab A/S (aka Odense Water Ltd) and Taliworks (Langkawi) Sdn Bhd is more in the area of non-revenue water (NRW) which is a huge issue raised by the Malaysian government. The partnership will look into the management of NRW and waterworks energy reduction solutions. The two companies will establish a JV company locally to provide holistic review and evaluation of the existing water supply system to reduce environmental impact including energy use and the conservation of water resources, starting initially in Langkawi.
The signing of the Partnership Implementation Agreement between EnviDan and Darco Water Systems as well as Odense Vandselskab and Taliworks Langkawi is a testament to the close bilateral ties between the Danish Government and Malaysia.
“Our two countries have had a long standing history of collaboration especially in environmental cooperation. Since 1994, Malaysia has seen the fruition of more than one hundred projects to strengthen Malaysia’s endeavours to safeguard the environment. These projects have been channelled through government-to-government (G2G) programmes, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and through private companies. We hope to see up further collaborative efforts in the private sector and strengthening the bilateral trade ties between Malaysia and Denmark”, said Ambassador Borge Petersen of the Royal Danish Embassy .
The Ambassador further stressed the need to reinforce the cooperation at ground level to pave the way for more commercially viable and sustainable partnerships that will help contribute towards re-greening the earth and the lessening of global warming. The Embassy, through its Commercial Section has implemented various ground level programmes such as the Malaysian-Danish Water Day Programme for the three consecutive years of 2004 to 2006.
“We are pleased with the results of our joint efforts here in Malaysia to propagate better environmental practices at the governmental level as well as the private sector in Malaysia. Denmark has very ambitious environmental policy goals, and combined with a very demanding home market; it has created Danish companies with cutting edge knowledge of water treatment and management, and the corresponding technologies and products.” he concluded. 
FMM, who worked together with the Embassy on the implementation of the Partnership Facility Programme (PFP) expressed their appreciation on being the appointed Local Focal Point for the programme. It’s immediate past president, Datuk Mustafa Mansur said, “The overall objective of the PFP was to facilitate creating sustainable partnership to secure the reduction of pollution and environmental degradation caused by utilities and industrial production in the country and we are appreciative of the fact that we are recognised by the Danish Government as being in the position to act as facilitator for the programme”. The PFP was another of programme under the auspices of the Danish government in the environmental sector.
The signing of the Partnership Implementation Agreement was witnessed today by YB Dato’ Shaziman Abu Mansor the Deputy Minister of Energy, Water and Communications. He acknowledged the signing ceremony as a significant example of the promotion of sustainable partnerships in the environmental sector which will be beneficial to Malaysia in the long term and the global environment.