Qingdao, China, and Palembang, Indonesia: The Path of Environmental Cooperation that Grew Across Two Oceans (1990s)

Qingdao, China, and Palembang, Indonesia: The Path of Environmental Cooperation that Grew Across Two Oceans (1990s)
In the 1990s, economic growth in Asia accelerated and environmental problems such as factory effluent smoke and waste rapidly became more serious. The environmental cooperation projects in Qingdao and Palembang symbolized this turning point for Japanese companies.

In Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China, a company affiliated with Ebara Corporation built a water treatment facility by procuring equipment in both Japan and China based on a Sino-Japanese joint plant. While the reform and open-door policy was progressing, water pollution was a major problem, and the water treatment technology of Japanese companies was highly anticipated. The cooperation in Qingdao attracted attention as an attempt to achieve both industrial growth and environmental improvement.

In Palembang City, Indonesia, a model wastewater treatment plant for a natural rubber factory was constructed under the Green Aid Plan of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Highly concentrated organic wastewater was causing foul odors and river pollution, threatening the ecosystem, so a low-cost wastewater treatment technology suitable for local use was required. Japan's technology transfer was an effort aimed at future diffusion.

In the 1990s, a framework integrating economic cooperation and environmental considerations was being formed in the international community, and the cases of Qingdao and Palembang symbolized Japan's beginning to address environmental issues in Asia.