Professor Min Yang, the Deputy Director of the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), led a three-member Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) delegation to attend the Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA) Regional Workshop on Water and Sanitation from 11 to 14 February, 2014. The workshop provided valuable and fruitful exchange with experts from China, Korea, Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines.

The CAS delegation also met with Mr. Ek Sonn Chan, the Secretary of State, Ministry of Industry and Handicraft in charge of water supply, and other senior officials. Professor Yang introduced the visions and general objectives of RCEES, CAS and the CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Water and Environment (CEWE) to the attendants, and raised the possibility for water supply cooperation with Cambodia. Mr. Ek Sonn Chan also suggested potential areas of collaboration, including high turbidity water treatment, water purification agent production, and arsenic removal technology.

Both parties consented to the establishment of a cooperative relationship, with Cambodia agreeing to organize a delegation to visit China to investigate drinking water facilities and develop a detailed cooperation plan with CAS.

Professor Yang announced that CAS-TWAS CEWE needed to rededicate and redouble its efforts at leading Asia to sustainable development through science, technology and innovation.