Apparel designers and product managers from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and Macao met in Hong Kong, September 22-25, 1997, to participate in the US-AEP-sponsored "Green Design Textiles Workshop." The four-day course, organized by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and hosted by the Institute of Textiles and Clothing at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, offered participants the opportunity to learn about greening the textile supplier chain, green product process options, international standards, and eco-labeling. Innovative technologies and presentations were shared by Hong Kong experts from the Institute of Textiles and Clothing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and U.S. experts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Esprit, and US-AEP. US-AEP's speaker, Suzanne Young from the Clean Technology and Environmental Management initiative, presented the topic "Cost comparisons: Green, Clean, Recycled." Also included in the schedule were site visits to China Dyeworks, Hong Kong Development Council, and the Hong Kong Productivity Council, which has taken the lead in assisting the textile industry in Hong Kong to improve performance. Participants from Hong Kong included Levi Strauss Eximco Ltd., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China Dyeing Holdings Ltd., Fountain Set Limited, Butoni, China Dolls, Cotton Inc., and Prima Design Systems. Also attending were representatives from Argo Pantes (Indonesia), Intercot Co. Ltd. (Thailand), and Macao Productivity and Technology Transfer Center.

USAID's Office of Environment and Urban Programs brought together practitioners and scholars to examine the experiences of "user pays" approaches for providing the basic urban services of water and sanitation. The conference, entitled "Cost Recovery: Ensuring Sustainability and Equity in the Provision of Urban Services," was held September 22-23 in Washington, DC. US-AEP was represented at the two-day event by Charlie Scheibal from the US-AEP Secretariat and Stacy Bonnaffons, program manager for Environmental Infrastructure. Case studies from developed and developing economies confronted the shared problems of financial shortfalls due to public provision of services and insufficient pricing as a result of technical and political obstacles. Financial experts presented unique methodologies to determine rates that would go beyond covering the basic service cost, to include economic growth, and environmental impacts. US-AEP's Environmental Infrastructure Representatives continue to work closely with USAID on innovative programs in this arena--targeting supplemental resources to bring in the U.S. private sector and encouraging public-private partnerships.

US-AEP sponsored Roy Saunders, an urban environmental planner, as a speaker at the Jakarta Environmental Summit held August 26, 1997. Saunders addressed an audience of 75 government and industry representatives on his twenty years of experience in Indonesia with community planning and urban improvement. The event was sponsored by the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the City of Jakarta. Denny Kadarwati, US-AEP/Indonesia deputy director, also attended the summit and was an invited speaker at the workshop on "Enhancing Environmental Performance" held in Tangerang, a major industrial sub-district of Jakarta. At the workshop, Kadarwati provided technical information on environmental auditing and background on US-AEP services and programs to an audience of 124 industry representatives attending the three-day event in July. She is currently following up on contacts made during these events.

Philip P. Costas, who has been hired by the American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC) as the Asia Regional Director under ACEC's cooperative agreement with US-AEP, has his new contact information: