Bankers' course addresses environmental risk management.

US-AEP, in cooperation with Bank of America and the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), conducted a training course on "Environmental Risk Management for Banks" in Manila, January 20-21, 1997. The course, designed to assist bankers in recognizing, understanding, and managing environmental credit risk and developing appropriate credit policies to address and overcome them. The two-day program, the first of its kind in the Philippines, was led by Evan Henry, Bank of America's Senior Vice President for Environmental Services. Fifty senior-level bankers, representing 30 member banks of BAP,participated in the training. The bankers acknowledged the fundamental threat of environmental degradation to economic growth in the Philippines. As providers of credit, they agreed that they play a key role in ameliorating past environmental problems and ensuring that future economic growth is environmentally sustainable. Dennis Zvinakis, US-AEP Field Director, addressed the participants on opening day, noting that the event marked the beginning of US-AEP's fifth anniversary celebrations and Bank of America's year-long 50th anniversary in the Philippines. Future courses are being considered for Indonesia, Thailand, and India.

Korea trade lead results in initial sale for California firm.

Shinhan Corporation, a Korean importer of various filtration systems, approached US-AEP Tech Rep Chi- Sun Lee in December 1995 to help them identify a U.S. company specializing in industrial water filtration technologies. After dissemination of a trade lead, Shinhan received responses from a number of relevant U.S. manufacturers, then entered into negotiations with Alliance International (Tustin, California). As a result, Alliance sold one industrial water filtration unit with plans for future sales in 1997. In Korea, the market for water pollution control equipment reached $1 billion in 1995 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 25 percent as wastewater becomes the subject of stricter monitoring and control by the government. Alliance is now well-positioned to increase its market share.

Hong Kong officials study U.S. wastewater control policies.

During a three-week US-AEP Environmental Fellowship program, two officers from Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department examined ways in which different federal and local U.S. regulatory programs work together to control wastewater discharge. Through meetings and site visits, held January 6-24, 1997, Che Ming Duncan Chan and Tak Yan Dane Tsa also had the opportunity to study the latest developments in compliance monitoring techniques, including the use of automatic remote sensing surveillance systems. The fellowship included meetings with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives in Region 2 (New York City), Region 3 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and Region 5 (Chicago, Illinois), as well as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and Philadelphia First. The program's site visits included ESRI (Vienna, Virginia), Reactives Management Corporation (Chesapeake, Virginia), the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Philippine companies attend ISO 14031 work group. Through the sponsorship of US-AEP's Clean Technology and Environmental Management (CTEM) initiative and Environmental Exchange Program representatives from two Filipino companies will participate in the ISO 14031 work group discussion on environmental evaluation standards to be held in Keystone, Colorado in February. The work group will develop environmental evaluation standards based on a list of industry performance evaluation indicators. Earlier, US-AEP sponsored a survey to solicit industry feedback in Asia on the performance indicators. In addition to attending focus group discussions, the participants will observe how a United Technologies plant in Hartford, Connecticut has implemented an ISO 14000 management plan. The visit will also be an opportunity to network with U.S. industry participants.

CTEM Information Center update.

The CTEM Information Centers in Manila, Singapore, and Washington, DC'US-AEP's information clearinghouses on clean technology and environmental management (CTEM)'continue to respond to varied requests from Asian businesses and partners. For example, when a Malaysian firm needed information on wastewater treatment and pollution prevention in the food and beverage and chemical processing industries, the Singapore center provided them with more than ten resource guides, profiles, and case studies. An Indian leather tanning company requested information on cleaner production and waste minimization and received several case studies and samples of waste reduction assessments. A query from Jakarta, Indonesia, focused on environmental impact assessments and environmental management for industrial estates. The requestor was provided documents on designing and operating industrial parks as ecosystems, industrial ecology, and environmental guidelines for industrial development projects. Requests from US-AEP field offices included information on volatile organic compound emissions from paint manufacturing, environmental indicators of water quality, and urban air quality in the world's megacities.

Field staff receive technical training.

Five staff members from US-AEP field offices met in Singapore last week for a four-day technical training session, led by Sarath Kumar Menon and Chan Yin Kei of US-AEP's Singapore Office of Technology Cooperation. Participants included Vivian How (US- AEP/Malaysia), Satit Sanongphan (US-AEP/Thailand), Kamran Akthar and Jennifer Huang (US-AEP/Taiwan), and Denny Kadarwati (US-AEP/Indonesia). The representatives also attended an American Chamber of Commerce environment committee meeting where they presented an overview of issues and activities in their respective countries.

In the News