US-AEP�s priority activities for 1999 include the following:

US-AEP�s program in Indonesia is driven by the need to respond effectively to the financial crisis, adjusting an existing program to make it relevant to current needs and complementary to the efforts of USAID/Jakarta to address social safety net issues. US-AEP�s social safety net activities address public water needs and economic recovery of industry. US-AEP�s contribution to employment generation in both the infrastructure and industrial sectors is intended to assist Indonesia�s economic recovery using US-AEP�s unique partnerships and resources. US-AEP continues to facilitate policy dialogue with senior government officials and promote environmental management issues in the manufacturing sector. Estimated value of US-AEP�s input is $1.45 million in direct funding in Indonesia.

Because effective public disclosure policies go hand in hand with improved industrial environmental performance, US-AEP promotes information sharing on environmental practices with all stakeholders. In Indonesia, the success of the PROPER-Prokasih program demonstrates how the media and public opinion can bring about improved industrial compliance with environmental regulations.

In 1998, US-AEP gave a grant to EcoLink, an Indonesian NGO, to find motivating factors that will help businesses comply with regulations and encourage community participation. One of EcoLink�s successes was the completion in March 1999 of a community information kit, created with participation from the government and private sector. The kit contains background information on PROPER, instructions on how communities can participate, and guidelines for monitoring factories. The kits are to be distributed to NGOs for distribution and use in local communities.

Through US-AEP�s Policy Group, Asian and American organizations are working together to frame a policy research agenda. This agenda will lay the groundwork for an international dialogue on policy directions that are crucial to sustainable development. The Framing Papers is a joint project of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. The Framing Papers will articulate and promote the case for a clean revolution, with the aim of influencing senior government officials, business leaders, and leading policy research institutions.

US-AEP�s State Environmental Initiative (SEI) program, administered by the Council of State Governments, links U.S. and Asian partners in an effort to address a variety of Asian environmental challenges. One recent project has built a "sister lakes" partnership between Lake Champlain in Vermont and Lake Toba in Indonesia. The project�s objective was to use the Lake Champlain model for managing a large freshwater lake to improve environmental management in the Lake Toba region. The results of the project have been substantial. In March 1999 Indonesian President B.J. Habibie made a historical announcement that declared the Lake Toba area a special zone for ecotourism, art, and culture. In addition, polluting industry will no longer be allowed in the area, and the Lake Toba Heritage Foundation (LTHF), one of the partners of the SEI project, will be a key member of the authority managing the area.

Other SEI projects include the Louisiana-Indonesia Environmental Rice Project and Washington-East Java Water Project.

In direct response to social safety net needs identified in the urban environmental infrastructure sector, US-AEP is providing assistance to Indonesian water authorities (PDAMs) to ensure the delivery of safe, clean water to Indonesians at an affordable rate. Provision of adequate supplies of clean water affects not only the health of the population, but also the manufacturing sectors as they depend upon a minimum quality of clean water. In 1999, US-AEP is

• Providing the services of a Water Efficiency Team (WET) to advise hard hit PDAMs in the technical means to maintain the quality and flow of water;
• Providing a grant to the Indonesian Society of Sanitary and Environmental Engineers (IATPI) to assist in the transfer of technology and management information systems (MIS) to PDAMs;
• Strategically engaging PERPAMSI, the Indonesian Water Supply Association, to improve management efficiency in the PDAMs; and
• Continuing to support efforts to increase efficiency in the larger PDAMs.

At the end of the first phase in April, 16 PDAMs had been evaluated; preliminary plans have been made to implement WET�s management and efficiency recommendations on nine of those PDAMs. The plans involve almost $2 million in loans from the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, and will generate 150,000 person-days of employment and 20,000 new connections of clean water for the urban poor in Indonesia. The second phase will involve integrating WET activities with the PDAM rescue plan established by the Government of Indonesia and the World Bank.

In 1999, US-AEP is working with KMB to accomplish the following:

• Create an eco-efficiency corps of engineers to identify low-cost, no-cost pollution prevention changes in industrial facilities to decrease production costs and allow for re-employment and/or continued employment of workers;
• Develop a system that creates links between those who create waste and businesses that can use those wastes to manufacture and sell new products; and

• Provide up-to-date industrial outreach information to Indonesian manufacturing sector on both low-cost clean production technologies and more-efficient production, methods, or technologies.

For more information on US-AEP�s public policy activities:

For more information on US-AEP�s urban infrastructure activities:

For more information on US-AEP�s corporate environmental management activities:

For more information on US-AEP�s technology transfer activities: