Asia

Asia and Pacific Islands: around EUR 17.7 million of funding for 50 projects and commissions

An estimated 30 percent of the 172 projects and commissions funded by the Export Initiative Environmental Protection (EXI) to date has gone to projects in Asia and the Pacific. If activities in Eastern, Central and Southern Asia and the Pacific Islands are considered collectively, then this is one of the leading regions for project implementations. Within this group, most project activities take place in India and Vietnam.

A total of around EUR 17.7 million of funding for 50 projects and commissions

Since EXI was formed, 50 projects with a total funding volume of EUR 17.7 million have been supported in Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Focus topics for these activities are to be found in the priority areas of water and waste management (15 projects), the circular economy (10 projects and 2 commissions), and cross-sectional technologies (11 projects and 1 commission). Both completed and ongoing projects and commissions are concentrated in the countries of India (eight) and Vietnam (nine), as well as Indonesia and the Philippines (five each).

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Ongoing projects 2022/2023 receive no less than 80 percent of total funding

During the 2022/2023 period, EXI recorded a total of 22 ongoing projects and commissions, which have received EUR 14.4 million of funding. This is equivalent to some 81 percent of the total funding provided to the region since EXI was launched in 2016.

The years 2022 and 2023 represent a high point in the funding of projects in the Asian region. During this period, the proportion of funding received amounts to more than 80 percent of total funding since 2016.

The Export Initiative Environmental Protection cooperates with international partners to implement its projects. One of these partner organizations is Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The global ‘Worldwide Environmental Protection’ project from the GIZ supports the German Federal Environment Ministry’s funding programme in selected partner countries by transferring knowledge about integrated environmental protection and resource conservation technologies and engaging in local capacity building. In Asia, the GIZ is implementing two commissions in India, and one each in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. At EUR 7.8 million, this amounts to 54 percent of funding provided in 2022/23.

Another partner is the network of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad and delegations of German business (AHKs), who are working with the Chambers for Green-Tech from DIHK Service GmbH to implement seven projects in Asia and the Pacific region in 2022/2023. Two projects are being implemented by AHKs in the Philippines, and one project in each of India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Pacific Islands.

Focus countries and focus topics in Asia and the Pacific Islands 2022/23

Focus countries

India, eight projects
Vietnam, four projects

Focus topics

Water and waste water management, seven projects
Circular economy, seven projects
Green hydrogen/fuel cell technology, five projects
Cross-sectional technologies, three projects

Focus countries 2022/23: India and Vietnam

India and Vietnam are the two countries in which most of the current projects and commissions have been organised for 2022/23.

In India, there are a total of seven projects and commissions with a total funding volume of around EUR 7.6 million. In terms of content, the projects are focusing on the topics of water and waste water management (four projects), green hydrogen and fuel cell technology, circular economy and cross-sectional technologies (one project each).

As one example, the aim of the GIZ project ‘Managing organic waste in India’ is to improve techniques for the more sustainable management of organic waste in the three cities of Kanpur, Kochi and Port Blair, in the states and union territories, and at national level. These include both centralised and decentralised systems for the management of organic waste, such as aerobic composting and biological methanation.

The ‘ECO-FCGen’ project is aiming to contribute to a decentralised power generation system based on fuel cells. This involves the development of a fuel-cell based electricity producer rated at a maximum of 60 kVA, which can serve as an emergency power system.

Selected focus topics and projects

In terms of focus topics, three of the seven EXI priority areas are being addressed in Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Water and waste water management and the circular economy as priority areas most commonly addressed in 2022/2023

With seven projects each, the EXI priority areas of water/waste water management and the circular economy are addressed most frequently, closely followed by projects concentrating on green hydrogen and fuel cell technology (five).

The circular economy is receiving the highest level of funding volume, at just over EUR 6 million. Cross-sectional technologies are receiving the second-highest level of grants, at around EUR 4.5 million (three projects).

Selected projects in Asia and the Pacific Islands:

India: ShowCaseIN – plan for constructing a showcase water treatment facility in India with German technical systems (German-language only)

Typically, municipal and industrial waste water is treated inadequately if at all in India, causing significant levels of pollution for the environment and harm to human health. Errors made while scaling systems and a lack of operational know-how are commonly encountered reasons for inefficiencies in existing treatment works. As part of a feasibility study, members of India’s GWP Regional Forum are therefore developing a plan for retrofitting an existing treatment works that is adapted to regional circumstances. Once complete, this will then function as a showcase treatment works for German wastewater handling systems and for educational purposes in the wastewater sector.

Vietnam: CapaViet3 – rehabilitating contaminated locations in Bắc Ninh province

CapaViet3 aims to provide information about technical and other options for the rehabilitation of contaminated areas to current and future local authority employees, degree students, decision-makers and the general public, as well as highlighting suitable measures to implement for these scenarios. The focus of this project is on soils that have become contaminated by harmful heavy metals.

Nepal: ReValue – setting up recycling centres as a preparatory measure for the market entry of Plastic Roads in Nepal

The aim of this project is to develop a method that enables the use of previously virtually unrecyclable composite plastics as valuable asphalt additives for use in road building. The ReValue method extends the longevity of the road itself while reducing its carbon footprint. The overall objective is to expand the use of this method across Nepal. For this purpose, the necessary preconditions for implementation are being identified as part of a feasibility study, with the treatment process for plastic fractions as an asphalt additive being validated in a pilot project and a certification process for a plastic credit standard also to be completed.

Pacific Islands: AHK New Zealand – green hydrogen (focus on decentralised and off-grid power generation) for hotels and other tourist destinations in the Pacific Islands

This project aims to analyse the potential of green hydrogen projects, their power generation, the integration of emergency power systems with hydrogen fuel cells, and their use for a decentralised and/or the off-grid, environmentally friendly supply of power to hotels and other tourist destinations in the Pacific Islands.