The Energy Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency discussed ways of expanding cooperation in the fields of water and electricity based on memorandums of understanding signed in previous years.
Discussing issues of mutual interest, including water, wastewater, electricity and environment, the two sides expressed hope that the implementation of past agreements would help open a new chapter in bilateral relations.
According to Paven, the Energy Ministry’s news portal, JICA has already carried out projects to boost efficiency in some thermal power plants and drawing on the agency’s experiences can help ease a part of worsening water tension in Iran.
Referring to JICA’s initiatives in Sudan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cuba, Paven noted that the hands-on experience can be used to develop projects in and around the river of Sefidroud in the city of Manjil, Gilan Province.
Established in 1974, JICA is the primary Japanese government agency responsible for technical cooperation affairs of Japan's Official Development Assistance program.
JICA is involved in projects in Iran's water and power industries. It provides assistance to Iran with focus on development of domestic industries, reduction of disparities between urban and rural areas, environmental preservation, water resource management and disaster management.
The Energy Ministry stressed the need and importance of joint ventures, and added that collaboration in implementing industrial projects can help build closer ties between the two sides.
Iran and Japan signed an agreement in 2018 to cut water loss in central Iran with an eye on reducing the wastage of dwindling water resources across the national supply system.
Signed by the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company, Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company and JICA, the agreement was aimed at reducing the drainage of "non-revenue water" that is pumped and then lost or unaccounted for before reaching consumers.
As per the agreement, the joint program was piloted in the city of Khansar in the central Isfahan Province where water wastage is three times the average in major Iranian cities.
International Expertise
According to Mohammad Ali Farahnakian, the energy minister’s advisor for international affairs, Tehran is interested in using international expertise and cooperating with global organizations, including JICA and Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME), as they have the knowhow to improve electricity and water infrastructures.
“JCCME is an independent private enterprise and its major purpose is to help strengthen economic ties between the Middle East and Japan,” Yuzki Oukazaki, a deputy manager of JCCME, said addressing a convention on "Japan's Experience in Water and Wastewater Engineering” in 2020.
"Our main objective in Iran is to hold technical training courses with the aim of promoting entrepreneurial capabilities and improving employment so that the trainees can set up their own business in the future," he said, stressing that "this is a win-win situation for both sides".
The JCCME official reiterated that his organization’s first priority is to train Iranian technicians in water and wastewater systems, desalination, greywater, recycling, water treatment, energy preservation and hydroelectric energy.
Founded in 1973, JCCME is active in 22 countries from West Asia to North Africa. The greater part of the budget to finance the activities undertaken by JCCME is provided by the Economy Ministry.
The center promotes investments from Japan to the Middle East and North African region by providing information on the investment environment and facilitating corporate missions to research local conditions critical to business, feasibility studies and the establishment of joint ventures.
Referring to the low water consumption in the world’s third largest economy, Oukazaki said domestic water-saving gadgets (ranging from shower heads to taps, flush reducers to bathwater diverters) that are used in Iran are similar to those in Japan technology-wise.
But the problem in Iran, he noted, is that a limited number of households use such water-saving gadgets while in Japan almost all houses are equipped with such accessories.
Prudent Consumption
Technology is a means, not a solution to all problems, Oukazaki stressed, adding that the Japanese people are taught from childhood to consume water prudently.
The training continues in school with the help of teachers and by the time they are adults, the culture has been institutionalized.
Spending time to train kids to consume energy judiciously can be a more effective approach than having access to advanced knowledge and knowhow, he added.
Echoing the views of environmentalists and conservationists in Iran, Oukazaki said the price at which water is sold in Iran is way below its production cost – a wrong policy that has to change.
For example, the average single-person household in Tokyo in the fiscal year 2016 paid $30 a month for water use.
Water is heavily subsidized in Iran and while urban consumers pay 43% of its real price, only 23% of the production cost are paid by the rural people. The production of one cubic meter of water for urban use costs a little less than 10,000 rials (5 cents) and supplying the same to rural areas costs higher.
According to Masoud Khashaei, the director of planning and economic affairs at the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company, per capita consumption of water in Iran is higher than the global average.
“Water in Iran is much cheaper compared to many countries, such that the cost of water is a miniscule 0.4% of household expenses,” he said.
According to Energy Ministry data, every Iranian uses an average of 300 liters of water daily and per capita water consumption in Tehran exceeds 400 liters. The global average is 200 liters.
