Tackling the myths of global water crisis

We would like to invite you to our next webinar, jointly organised with the Swiss Chamber of Commerce, the French Chamber of Commerce & Belgium Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce:

Tackling the myths of global water crisis:

Roles of Business, Public and Society

Is water scarcity a fatality? Are Chennai, Sao Paulo, Cape Town going to face “Day Zero” in a near future? What about Zimbabwe, Myanmar, China and Singapore? 

Our panel of outstanding experts will discuss these burning questions and answer questions from the audience. 

The discussion will be moderated by Mr. Manfred Rist, SwissCham’s board advisor and the South East Asia correspondent of Neue Zürcher Zeitung, a Swiss newspaper. 

Supporting the Spanish Chamber, our ambassador, Mr Santiago Miralles, will also give some opening words.

About the speakers

Dr. Cecilia TORTAJADA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Water Management, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Dr. Cecilia Tortajada is Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. The main focus of her work at present is on the future of the world´s water, especially in terms of water, food, energy and environmental securities through coordinated policies.

She has been an advisor to major international institutions like FAO, UNDP, JICA, ADB, OECD and IDRC, and has worked in countries in Africa, Asia, North and South America and Europe on water and environment-related policies. She is a member of the OECD Initiative in Water Governance.

Mr. Tony Ong, Chief Executive Officer, South East Asia, Veolia Water Technologies.

Tony Ong is the CEO for South East Asia region at Veolia Water Technologies.

Educated in business management, Tony possesses more than 25 years of experience in the water and wastewater, mining and chemical industries. He has held many leading roles in sales and marketing where he was responsible for developing business strategies and execution of business lines and structures in Asia for Veolia Water Technologies.

Joining Veolia since 2005, Tony has held positions as Sales Director, Business Development Director, Managing Director and currently helm the CEO role for South East Asia region. Aside being best at driving business growth and building effective teams, Tony enjoys hiking and traveling.

Based in Singapore, Tony’s motto is “Love your job so it does not become work!” and that’s what he practices daily.

Dr. Evelyne FIECHTER-WIDEMANN, President, Workshop for Water Ethics (W4W).

Dr. Evelyne Fiechter-Widemann, formerly barrister at the Geneva Court (Switzerland), lives presently in Singapore where she is researching on water ethics. Her interdisciplinary thesis “Human Right to Water: Justice or…Sham?” was presented at the University of Geneva in 2015. She is president of the Workshop for Water Ethics (W4W).

Dr. Asit K. BISWAS, Distinguished Visiting Professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

Asit K Biswas is one of the world’s leading authorities on water and environmental management. He is co-founder of the Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico and currently the Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy in Singapore.

Formerly a Professor in UK, Canada and Sweden, he was a member of the World Commission on Water. He has been a senior advisor to 19 governments, six Heads of the United Agencies, Secretary General of OECD and also to many other major international and national organisations. He is a Past President of the International Water Resources Association, and has held important positions in several major international water and environment‐related professional associations.

Prof. Biswas received the Stockholm Water Prize in 2006 for “his outstanding and multi‐faceted contributions to global water resource issues”, as well as the Man of the Year Award from Prime Minister Harper of Canada, and the Aragon Environment Prize of Spain. In 2012, he was named a “Water Hero of the World” by the Impeller Magazine, and also as one of the 10 thought‐leaders of the world in water by Reuters. He is a member of the Global Agenda Council on Water Security of the World Economic Forum.