President Helmut Kroiss of the International Water Association (IWA);
President Pan-Chyr Yang (楊泮池) from National Taiwan University;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Good morning!
On behalf of the people of the Republic of China, I would like to welcome this fine group of scholars and young professionals to Taiwan. I am very glad that you have chosen to come here to express your concerns about water issues.
For several years now, the IWA International Young Water Professionals Conference has provided a platform for young professionals to express their concerns about the global water environment and water issues. Together, conference participants have worked out creative new strategies in an effort to solve the world's water problems. The views put forward at this conference in past years have carried great weight not only in the academic community, but also among government policymakers. I would therefore like to express my deepest gratitude to the organizers--National Taiwan University and the IWA--for your efforts in planning this event.
Water is one of the most important resources on earth. And it is not available in unlimited quantities. Just like petroleum and other resources, it can run out. Throughout the world, water supplies are unevenly distributed over time and space, depending on local conditions and the impact of climate change. According to United Nations statistics, about one billion people lack safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion people live in areas without adequate sanitation facilities. By 2025, two-thirds of the world's population will be dealing with water shortages.
Because of global warming, the frequency of drought has been rising in recent years. In addition, industrial development generates chemicals and industrial wastes that are badly damaging our water resources. Problems connected with water resources are severely affecting the global economy and the supply of food and energy. As a result, we now face a major crisis that threatens the sustainable development of human society.
In Taiwan, as well, water resource issues pose serious challenges. In the past, annual rainfall didn't vary a lot. Now, however, we must deal with sharp and abnormal volatility in rainfall. Taipei City, where this conference is taking place, is a good example. Average annual rainfall in this city over the past 10 years has been 20% above the average for the past century, but the average number of rain days per year has been 30 days fewer. This means that rainfall during the wet season has intensified, which increases the likelihood of floods. Meanwhile, the number of rain-free days has also increased, and rainfall during the dry season is down. These abnormal conditions mean that Taiwan will experience increasingly severe droughts and floods in the future.
Five years ago, when Taiwan was badly hit by Typhoon Morakot, the typhoon brought unprecedented rain. I would just give you an example. In the Visitors Center at Ali Mountain, which is a tourist attraction at an elevation of 2,000 meters, the flood in the Visitors Center was two meters deep. It is unbelievable, but it is a fact.
Taiwan is now facing its worst drought in a decade. The last one occurred in 2002, when I was mayor of this city. We issued a water shortage alert just last month, and our government has taken a number of steps to mitigate the impact of the drought. For example, we've limited the total water supply, implemented rolling water cuts and irrigation controls, and engaged in cloud seeding. We are also urging citizens to conserve water.
As a matter of fact, six years ago, when I first took office, I started a community drive called "the four conservations." We tried to conserve electricity, fuel, water, and paper. This drive has been carried out at government agencies, schools, and other institutions.
Precisely because we face such difficult challenges, Taiwan has long worked hard to achieve breakthroughs and innovations in its water resource technologies. We have made especially important advances in flood control and reservoir sediment removal, and these would be worth sharing with other nations. For example, we have made engineering breakthroughs that enable us to build "sediment sluicing tunnels" for existing reservoirs to accelerate the elimination of sediment. Such tunnels greatly reduce the annual cost of dredging and accelerate sediment removal. And more importantly, they extend the service life of reservoirs. By the way, in Taiwan, the conditions do not allow us to add more reservoirs in the future.
It is my personal hope that Taiwan's experts can take advantage of this conference to share their breakthroughs with colleagues from overseas. Hopefully, by getting together and trading insights on water resource issues, we can all help to achieve further progress in this field.
I firmly believe that every young professional here is deeply concerned about water issues. I hope that this concern will provide a powerful impetus that inspires you to create a better world for everyone.
In closing, I extend my best wishes to all, and welcome you once again to Taiwan. I look forward to a very productive conference, and wish each and every one of you the best of good health and success.
And last, but not least, I would like to make a suggestion, not as a young professional, but as an old amateur. I'd suggest that you take half a day off to enjoy the rich cultural life of Taiwan. You should visit two places, at least: the National Palace Museum, and a night market. As one of the top ten museums in the world, the National Palace Museum houses the art treasures collected by dozens of emperors over the last 4,000 years. It is expected to receive 5.2 million visitors by the end of this year, up 15% from last year's figure. The museum will give you a sense of our history and culture. Taiwan's night markets, on the other hand, have a variety of delicious snacks, fashionable clothing, and other things, and will give you a sense of everyday life in Taiwan.
Ladies and gentlemen, wherever you go, don't forget to do as much shopping as possible, to help our economy. Once again, thank you for joining us.