For inquiries, contact ASEAN-Japan Centre(ASEAN Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism)
1F, Shin Onarimon Bldg., 6-17-19, Shimbashi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004 Japan
Phone/Fax: +81-3-5402-8002/8003 (Office of the Secretary General)+81-3-5402-8004/8005 (Research and Policy Analysis (RPA) Cluster)+81-3-5402-8116/8005 (Capacity Building (CB) Cluster)+81-3-5402-8006/8007 (Trade and Investment (TI) Cluster)+81-3-5402-8008/8009 (Tourism and Exchange (TE) Cluster)+81-3-5402-8118/8003 (PR)e-mail address: info_rpa@asean.or.jp
https://www.asean.or.jp

Copyright © ASEAN Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism.
All Rights Reserved.
Second Phase (Social Services)
Paper 3 / March 2021 / Trade in Environmental Services

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

NOTES
The terms “country” and “economy” as used in this study also refer, as appropriate, to territories
or areas. The designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply any opinion
whatsoever on the part of the ASEAN-Japan Centre concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The tables use the following symbols:• Two dots (..) indicate that data are not available or are not separately reported.
• A dash (-) indicates that the item equals zero or its value is negligible.
• Use of an en dash (–) between dates representing years, e.g., 2015–2016, signifies the full period
involved, including the beginning and end years.
• Reference to “dollars” ($) means United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

List of papers under the project on promoting services trade in ASEAN by
the ASEAN-Japan Centre
The current paper is the third of a three-paper series of social services under the second
phase of the project on promoting services trade. The other papers under this project arelisted below:
First Phase
Paper 1. Trade in Professional Services (February 2017)
Paper 2. Trade in Research & Development Services (February 2017)
Paper 3. Trade in Telecommunication Services (March 2017)
Paper 4. Trade in Computer and Related Services (March 2017)
Paper 5. Trade in Courier Services (January 2018)
Paper 6. Trade in Maritime, Air, Rail and Road Transport Services (February 2018)
Paper 7. Trade in Tourism Services (March 2018)
Second Phase: Social Services
Paper 1. Trade in Health Related and Social Services (February 2020)
Paper 2. Trade in Education Services (March 2020)
Paper 3. Trade in Environmental Services

Prepared by Hikari Ishido (Chiba University) and Katrina Navallo (ASEAN-Japan Centre or AJC)
under the direction of Masataka Fujita (AJC). The authors wish to thank the ASEAN delegation to
the Services Trade Online Forum on Environmental Services on 24–25 February 2021, Rafaelita
C. Castro (AJC) and other staff members of AJC for their helpful comments. The manuscript
was edited by Tora Estep and typeset by Laurence Duchemin. Errors and omissions are the sole
responsibility of the authors and should not be attributed to their respective organisations.

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CONTENTS
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I. Current state of environmental services at the country level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1. Sewage Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2. Refuse Disposal Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
3. Sanitation and Similar Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4. Other Environmental Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
II. Ascendancy of environmental services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1. Mode 1: Cross-Border Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2. Mode 2: Consumption Abroad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3. Mode 3: Commercial Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4. Mode 4: Presence of Natural Persons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
III. Trade agreements and regulations among and in the ASEAN

Member States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Implications of Shifting from Positive Listing to Negative Listing—from AFAS to ATISA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
IV. I mpacts of liberalisation and deregulation of environmental

services on economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

V. Policy suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

General Policy Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Workable Policy Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  49

Conclusion: What is next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  51
REFERENCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
APPENDIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
APPENDIX A. Selected FDI Cases in Environmental Services in ASEAN,
2003–2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
APPENDIX B. Specific Commitment Tables for Environmental Services
under the AFAS 10th package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
APPENDIX C. Negative List Commitments under the Comprehensive
and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) for
Environmental Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

iii

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1INTRODUCTION
Environment constitutes one of the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic
sustainability, social sustainability and environmental sustainability. The importance of environmental
protection, including the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, was highlighted in the
United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and in the Paris Agreement on climate change, which entered into force in 2016.
Trade in environmental goods and services is an important enabler to achieve sustainable
development. The market for environmental services is substantial and growing. Liberalisation of
trade in environmental services could bring more new market opportunities to the private sector
and contribute to improving the quality of goods and services and promoting efficient and costeffective environmental technologies.
ASEAN faces pressing environmental challenges due to rapid population growth and urbanisation,
including urban waste and wastewater management, air pollution and climate change mitigation, toname a few. It is essential for ASEAN governments to promote public-private partnership (PPP) andcooperation with international partners to enhance environmental infrastructure. To this end, ASEAN
and Japan are working closely to develop environmental infrastructure, such as waste management
and recycling systems, under the ASEAN-Japan Environmental Cooperation Initiative. Liberalisationof trade in environmental services could also present opportunities in ASEAN to accelerate suchpartnership and increase foreign direct investment (FDI) in this area.
This paper contributes to the debate in ASEAN to further liberalise trade in environmental services
by reviewing the current state of trade in environmental services in the region and analysing thepossible impacts of trade liberalisation on the economy and on the quality of environmental services.
It calls for policy recommendations for ASEAN to strengthen environmental relations with Japanand to increase trade in this service sector.

Scope of the Study
The first step of the study is to define “environmental services”. Given the cross-cutting nature of theenvironment itself, clearly defining environmental services and classifying related services in one
category is challenging.
Expanding the definition to include climate change–related services would require covering services
contributing to mitigation and adaptation (figure 1). Mitigation refers to “a human intervention
to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases”, while adaptation refers to“adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or theireffects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities”.1 This coverage would be too
wide to grasp the development and liberalisation of environmental services.
Therefore, the definition of environmental services should cover only the non-goods sector. One of
the most widely used service classifications is the World Trade Organization (WTO) Services Sectoral
Classification List (MTN.GNS/W/120, dated 10 July 1991, hereinafter referred to as “W/120”). W/120
is used for scheduling purposes under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The
ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) also follows W/120 classification. Countries may
also introduce specific commitments or conditions depending on existing laws or regulation. W/120
includes the following four categories under “environmental services”:

1

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change glossary.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

a. Sewage services
b. Refuse disposal services
c. Sanitation and similar servicesd. Other environmental services (e.g., cleaning of exhaust gases, noise abatement and natureand landscape protection).
Under W/120, environmental services are narrowly defined, focusing mainly on sewage and waste
management or on full or partial public infrastructure (UNEP et al., 2012). Other environmentalrelated services, such as engineering design and environmental consultancy, are not classified asenvironmental services but are contained in other relevant sectors such as professional services.
While the classification of environmental services used herein is based on W/120, note thatcountries may otherwise introduce specific commitments or conditions depending on existing laws
or regulations (comments from a Philippine services trade officer in the Services Forum 2020).
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Statistics Division of
the European Union (Eurostat) also developed a classification that separates environmental goods
and services into three broad categories—pollution management, cleaner technologies and products
and resource management—providing wider interpretation of environmental services than W/120.
OECD also published a report on trade in climate change–related services (Steenblik and Geloso
Grosso, 2011) that highlights 10 sectors (i.e., environmental; business; research and development;
computer and related; financial; education; energy; telecommunication; services incidental toagriculture, forestry and logging and construction and related engineering) as the services related
to climate change. Figure 1 shows the different classifications.

Figure 1. Classification of environmental-related services

GATS
6. Environmental Services

A. Sewage services (CPC9401)
B. Refuse disposal services (CPC9402)
C. Sanitation and similar services (CPC9403)
D. Other• Cleaning services of exhaust gases (CPC9404)• Noise abatement services (CPC9405)• Nature and landscape protection services (CPC9406)• Other environmental protection services (CPC9409)

Other environmental-related services (selected)*

1. Business services (i.e. Professional services (Architectural services(CP86711), Engineering services (CPC86721, 86724, 86729), Integrated
engineering services (CPC86732.86733)), Research and Development
Services (CPC85), Other Business Services (CPC884, CPC88493)

2. Construction and related Engineering services(i.e. General Construction work for building (CPC5133, 5135))

3. Distribution services (i.e. Wholesale and trade services (CPC62278))

OECD/ Eurostats classification(for both goods and services)• Pollution management• Cleaner technologies and products• Resources management

Climate change-related services• Environmental services (e.g. solid waste management,
emission monitoring, control f pollutants in the air)

• Business services (e.g. legal, architecture, engineering,

management consulting, technical testing, maintenance and repairof equipment etc.)• Energy services (e.g. services incidental to energy distribution)• Financial services (e.g. money broking)• R&D services (e.g. R&O on natural sciences, social sciences,humanities etc.)• Computer and related services (e.g. data processing)• Telecommunication (e.g. data transmission)• Construction and related engineering services(work for building and civil engineering, installation and assembly• Education services (e.g. higher technical and vocational
education services)• Services incidental to agriculture, forestry andlogging*CPC prov.
Other services: i.e. Tourism (e.g. Eco-tourism)

Source: AJC, based on GATS, OECD/Eurostats and Steenblik and Geloso Grosso (2011).

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3The 2010 Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (UN Statistics Division, 2010;
hereinafter EBOPS 20102) describes the service categories in relation to balance of payment. The
most relevant service category under EBOPS 2010 is “waste treatment and de-pollution (10.3.2.1)”,
which is part of “technical, trade-related and other business services (10.3)” under “other businessservices (10)” (see table 1). However narrowly defined the environmental services are, balance of
payment statistics provide cross-border trade (Mode 1) and consumption abroad (Mode 2).

Table 1. EBOPS 2010 classiﬁcation related to environmental services
10. Other business services
10.1 Research and development services
10.2 Professional and management consulting services
10.3 Technical, trade-related and other business services
10.3.1 Architectural, engineering, scientific and other technical services
10.3.2 Waste treatment and de-pollution, agricultural and mining services
10.3.2.1 Waste treatment and de-pollution
10.3.2.2 Services incidental to agriculture, forestry and fishing
10.3.2.3 Services incidental to mining and oil and gas extraction
10.3.3 Operating leasing services
10.3.4 Trade-related services
10.3.5 Other business services
Source: EBOPS 2010, Annex I, https://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/db/docs/msits2010_english.pdf.

“Waste treatment and de-pollution” includes various items classified as environmental services
under W/120 and its corresponding central product classification (CPC).3 Table 2 shows thatsewage, refuse disposal and sanitation and similar services are all part of “waste treatment and depollution”. Because “waste treatment and de-pollution” do not differentiate among these services,
capturing the volume of trade in environmental services by its subcategories as set out in W/120 is
not possible.
Given that no single classification comprehensively defines environmental services, this paper will
use the W/120 classification to analyse trade in environmental services in ASEAN. While W/120 isarguably outdated and does not fully reflect aspects of climate change mitigation and adoption, it isstill useful, especially when analysing the current status of trade liberalisation in ASEAN, because
AFAS negotiation was based on W/120 classification.

2

3

UN Statistic Division, “Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS2010)”, https://unstats.
un.org/unsd/tradeserv/db/docs/msits2010_english.pdf.
The WTO used provisional CPC for the Services Sectoral Classification List by (W/120) in 1991. CPC has changed
since then, and CPC version 2.1 was released in 2015.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Table 2. EBOPS 2010 and corresponding CPC 2.1
EBOPS 2010

CPC 2.1
849 Materials recovery (recycling) services, on a fee or contract basis

10.3.2.1
Waste
treatment
and depollution

941 Sewerage, sewage treatment and septic tank cleaning services
942 Waste collection services
943 Waste treatment and disposal services
944 Remediating services
945 Sanitation and similar services

CPC used
for W/120
and GATS
classiﬁcation

949 Other environmental protection services n.e.c.
Source: AJC, based on EBOPS 2010 to CPC 2.0, https://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/TFSITS/msits2010/docs/EBOPS%202010%20-%20CPC%202.0.pdf, and UNDESA (2015) Central Product Classification (CPC) Version 2.1, Statistical Papers Series M No.
77, Ver.2.1., https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/unsdclassifications/cpcv21.pdf.

Constraint of the Study
The main constraint of the study is the scarcity of data on trade in environmental services. The
imprecise definition of environmental services and the seeming lack of value placed on international
access to such services prevent countries and international organisations from developing asystematic approach to collecting such data. For example, no international organisation, including
the United Nations (UN), WTO, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and OECD, has acategory named “environmental services” in its database on balance of payments or international
trade. Thus, capturing the trade volume of environmental services using existing databases isdifficult. In this report, current available data on the most relevant services (waste treatment andde-pollution) will be used to analyse the status of environmental services in ASEAN.
Furthermore, to partially ease this constraint, the ASEAN-Japan Centre conducted the Services
Trade Online Forum on Environmental Services on 24–25 February 2021 to collect country-specificdata, feedback and comments from ASEAN member state representatives on the current state ofenvironmental services and investments for this paper.

I. CURRENT STATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AT THE COUNTRY
LEVEL
Governments have historically and primarily provided environmental services under natural
monopolies because of their characteristic as public services. However, as private participation inthese types of services becomes possible and increases, the nature of this industry has changed inmany ASEAN countries. Two types of factors explain increases in environmental services: supply
and demand factors.

Increasing Supply of Environmental Services
The supply of and demand for environmental services have been regarded as directly proportionate toincome levels (WTO, 2010; United States International Trade Commission in APEC Group on Services,
2010). This is evident among developed countries, mainly Japan, European Union (EU) countries, andthe United States, which dominate the suppliers and consumers of environmental services (WTO, 2010).
In Asia, regional environmental cooperation initiatives have initiated comprehensive national policies

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5and frameworks for environmental services, such as the Regional 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Forumin Asia and the Pacific and the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue on Environmental Cooperation.
Firms and providers of these services are increasing in number and in their ability to produce
services. There are several reasons for this advance. First, governments have opened markets
for environmental services, permitting private operators to operate either under contract withthe public sector or in a stand-alone capacity as independent suppliers of certain services. An
increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises supply directly to consumers and provide
environmental consultancy services to other companies.
Second, increasing trade in environmental goods, which are more diversified and technologicallyadvanced, is also increasing services associated with this type of equipment and goods. Examples include
sewage treatment, waste management, refuse disposal, noise abatement and air pollution abatement.
Third, increasing environmental standards internationally have produced a wide and growing supply ofenvironmental services. For instance, private polluters are required to treat their wastes and discharges,
often through private service providers. Firms and providers also increase production for many otherreasons. Technological advancement reaches many sectors including environmental services.

Increasing Demand for Environmental Services
In the environmental services sector, even though supply has been rising, the level remains
insufficient to meet the increasing demand. Global demand for environmental services has grown
rapidly in recent years not only for the products included in this study, but also for climate change
mitigation and adaptation services, as the world shifts towards sustainable development. The
market in environmental goods and services was estimated at $866 billion in 2011 and is expected
to rise to $1.9 trillion by 2020.4
International trade liberalisation facilitates the diffusion of environmental goods and services.
For example, global exports in environmental goods have nearly tripled from roughly $231 billion
in 2001 to $656 billion in 2012 (Environmental Business International, 2012). Increasing trade inenvironmental goods complements the increase in trade in environmental services and vice versa(Jacob and Møller, 2017). As far as FDI is concerned, the global value in only three sectors—alternative
energies, recycling and environmental technology manufacturing—reached roughly $100 billion by
the end of 2009, 10 times more than in the beginning of 2000 (UNCTAD 2010, pp. 111–112).
Demand for environmental services in ASEAN is also growing due to rapid economic and population
growth and urbanisation in the region. According to the ASEAN Secretariat, the urban population of
ASEAN member states (AMS) has been growing at an annual rate of 2.7 per cent over the last two
decades, which is twice the rate of overall population growth. In 2015, the population in megacities
and smaller urban areas accounted for 47 per cent of the total population in ASEAN and is expected toreach 63 per cent by 2050 (figure 2). Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, and Singapore are already highly
urbanised with more than 75 per cent of the population living in urban areas (ASEAN Secretariat, 2017).
A positive correlation exists between per capita income and the amount and type of waste: thehigher purchasing power and consumption are, the more waste is produced as a by-product (WTO,2010). Rapid urbanisation in ASEAN puts significant pressure on urban solid waste and wastewater
management. Data for municipal solid waste in ASEAN shows that the amount of solid waste isincreasing rapidly and is projected to increase two- to fourfold in volume by 2030 (table 3).

4

The market includes goods and services related to clean technology, energy and energy efficiency, pollution control,
water and wastewater among others (ITC, 2014).

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

6

Figure 2. Projection of urban and rural population in ASEAN (1950–2050)

900 000
Population (Thousands)

800 000
700 000
600 000
500 000
400 000
300 000
200 000
100 000

55
19
60
19
65
19
70
19
75
19
80
19
85
19
90
19
95
20
00
20
05
20
10
20
15
20
20
20
25
20
30
20
35
20
40
20
45
20
50

19

19

50

0

Urban Population

Rural Population

Total Population

Source: United Nations World Urbanization Prospects 2018, https://population.un.org/wup/Download/.

Table 3. Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in ASEAN, 2016 and 2030
2016 Adjusted
Country (Year ofavailable data)
Brunei
Darussalam (2016)

Total
Population

423 1962030 Projection

MSW
Total MSW
Generation
Generation
Per Capita(tonnes/ year)(kg/capita/day)
1.40

216 253

Total
Population

490 000

MSW
Total MSW
Generation
Generation
Per Capita(tonnes/year)(kg/capita/day)
1.47

262 788

Cambodia (2014)15 762 000

0.20

1 159 859

18 798 000

0.25

1 702 523

Indonesia (2016)

261 115 000

0.68

65 200 000

295 595 000

0.82

87 958 248

Lao PDR(2015)

6 758 000

0.15

364 463

8 049 000

0.18

522 053

Malaysia (2014)31 187 000

1.21

13 723 342

36 815 000

1.36

18 235 817

Myanmar (2000)

52 885 000

0.39

7 451 835

58 916 000

0.43

9 315 917

Philippines (2016)

103 320 000

0.39

14 631 923

125 372 000

0.44

20 039 044

Singapore (2017)

5 622 000

3.72

7 629 509

6 342 000

4.01

9 284 685

Thailand (2015)

68 864 000

1.08

27 268 302

69 626 000

1.28

32 484 794

Viet Nam (2010)

94 569 000

0.33

11 562 740

106 284 000

0.41

15 922 186

Source: Kaza et al. (2018).

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7Among the 10 AMS, Singapore produces the largest amount of waste per capita per day, followed
by Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Thailand. Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (or theso-called CLMV countries) and the Philippines have relatively less waste generation per capita perday (figure 3).

Figure 3. Waste generation rates of ASEAN countries (2016)
4.00

3.72

3.50

(kg/capita/day)

3.00
2.50
2.00
1.40

1.50

1.21

1.08

1.00

0.74

0.68
0.39

0.50

0.39

0.33

0.20

0.15

R
La

o

PD

a
di

am

bo
m
Ca

N
et
Vi

ili

pp

in

es

ar
Ph

nm
ya
M

do

ne

si

a

e
In

Gl

ob

al

av

ai

er

la

ag

nd

a
Th

si
ay
al
M

Br

un

ei

Da

Si

ru

ng

ss

ap

al

or

e

am

0.00

Source: Kaza et al. (2018).

To address the increasing volume and the composition of solid waste, ASEAN countries have been
upgrading their waste management systems. However, various technology, infrastructure, financing,policy and stakeholder participation issues have challenged these efforts (UNEP, 2017).
Traditionally, municipal governments supply these environmental services, such as solid waste andwastewater management. FDI has been limited due to the heavy dependence on the infrastructure
and public nature of these services. However, large infrastructure such as waste management plants
are increasingly built and operated in partnership with the private sector. Each ASEAN member
state promulgates laws and regulations to deal with increasing demand for environmental services(table 4).
International development goals such as the SDGs also raised the awareness of policymakers andbusinesses globally, opening new opportunities for investment to sectors traditionally considered tobe public services.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Table 4. Institutions and laws related to environment services in ASEAN countries
ASEAN country

Institutions

Laws

Brunei
Darussalam

Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation
Ministry of Development (Public Works Department)
Fire Services and Rescue Department
Police Department

Environmental Protection and Management Order
2016
Environmental Impact Assessment Order 2011
(Draft)Hazardous Waste (Control of Export and Transit)
Order 2013
Water Supply Act 2014
Pollution Control Guidelines for Industrial
Development in Brunei Darussalam 2013

Cambodia

Ministry of Environment
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Rural Development
Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Departmentof Sub-National Public Infrastructure andEngineering)

Law on Environmental Protection and Natural
Resources Management (1996)
Sub-Decree on Solid Waste Management (1999)
Sub-Decree on Environmental Impact Assessment(1999)
2003 Water and Sanitation Law
2004 National Water Resource Policy

Indonesia

Ministry of Environment and Forestry
Regional Environmental Management Agency
Ministry of Public Works

Law No. 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection andManagement
Law No. 18/2008 for Municipal Solid Waste
Various regulations of the Ministry of Environment

Lao PDR

Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Departmentof Housing and Urban Planning, Water Supply
Division)
Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment
City-level Vientiane Urban Development
Administration Authority

Decision No. 37/PM of 1999

Malaysia

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment(Department of Environment)
Ministry of Housing and Local Government
Ministry of Energy, Green Technology, and Water(Sewerage Services Department)
National Solid Waste Management Department
National Water Services Commission (SPAN)

Environmental Quality Act 1974
Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act
of 2007
Water Service Industry Act 2006 (655)Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara Act 2006 (Act654)

MyanmarMinistry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (Environmental Conservation
Department, Pollution Control Division)
Ministry of Industry
City Development Committees (Water and Sanitation
Departments, Pollution Control and Cleaning
Departments)

Environmental Conservation Law (2012)
Private Industrial Enterprise Law (Law No. 22, 1990)
Water and Air Pollution Control Plan (Directive No. 3
of 1995, Ministry of Industry No. 1)

Philippines

Department of Environment and Natural Resources(DENR), Provincial Environment and Natural
Resources (PENRO) and City Environment andNatural Resources (CENRO)
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System(MWSS), Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA),
Maynilad Water Services and Manila Water
National Solid Waste Management Commission
Department of HealthNational Economic Development Authority
Department of Public Works and Highways
Department of Interior and Local Government
Local Government Units (Cities/Municipalities andBarangays)

Philippine Environment CodePresidential Decree No. 1152 (1977)
Ecological Solid Waste Management Act 2000 (RA9003)
Toxic Substances and Hazardous Waste Control Act
1990 (RA 6969)
Clean Water Act 2004 (RA 9275)
Department Administrative Order No. 10 (2005)
Presidential Decree No. 856 (1975) Code on
Sanitation and Implementing Rules and Regulations
Clean Air Act 1999 (RA 8749)
DENR Administrative Order 2019-21: Guidelines
Governing Waste-to-Energy for the Integrated
Management of Municipal Waste

Singapore

Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
Environmental Public Health Act 2002
(Public Utilities Board, National Environment Agency) Sewerage and Drainage Act 2001
Environmental Protection and Management Act 2002…/

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

9Table 4. Institutions and laws related to environment services in ASEAN countries (Concluded)
ASEAN country

Institutions

Laws

Thailand

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment(Wastewater Management Authority)
Provincial Offices for Natural Resources andEnvironment
Department of Industrial WorksNational Environmental Board
Ministry of Industry
Ministry of HealthEnhancement and Conservation of National
Environment Quality Act B.E.2535
Public Health Act B.E. 2535
Hazardous Substances Act B.E.2535

Viet Nam

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Viet Nam Environment Administration (and Provincial
Departments)
Ministry of Construction (and Provincial
Departments)
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Science and Technology
Provincial People’s Committees

Resolution 41-NQ/TW (2004)
Environment Protection Law No. 52/2005/QH11(2005)
Decree No. 189/2007/ND-CP (2007)
Decision No. 1030/QD-TTg (2009)
Environment Protection Law No. 55/2014/QH13(2014)
Decree No. 80/2014/ND-CP on Drainage, Sewage
and Wastewater Treatment
Decree No. 59/2007/ND-CP of the Government on
Management of Solid Wastes
Decree on Environment Industry Development (2015)

Source: APEC Policy Support Unit (2016) and feedback from ASEAN member states. Updated information received from individual
member states.

1. Sewage Services5
In ASEAN, the primary means of wastewater disposal in most households is the septic tank, where
the effluent flows in open stormwater drains in streets and discharges directly into rivers without
being treated (ADB, 2014). While most wastewater treatment systems in ASEAN countries arecentralised, the primary challenge for most countries in this region is the lack of a comprehensive
national urban sanitation policy, which results in inefficient service delivery. Furthermore, separatingwater supply, sanitation, and sewerage services make maintaining the standard and quality of water
sanitation difficult.
Wastewater is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions by generating methane. Sewage services
are a subsector that, together with landfills, constitute part of waste management. Wastewater’s
contribution to climate change mitigation is small compared with other industries and largely
limited to methane capture and usage, accounting for only 3–7 per cent of all emissions according
to United Nations World Water Development Report 2020. While the public sector dominates thissubsector, transnational corporations like Veolia (France), Sita (France), Waste Management Inc.
(United States) and Allied Waste (United States) and small companies invest in waste management
including sewage (WTO, 2010). This is an area in which both the public and the private sectors are
involved in providing services (see box 1 for a Japanese example).

5

Defined as “sewage removal, treatment and disposal services. Equipment used are waste pipes, sewers or drains,cesspools or septic tanks and processes utilized may be dilution, screening and filtering, sedimentation, chemical
precipitation, etc.” (CPC9401).

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

10

Box 1. Japanese public and private sectors promoting environmental services
Japan has been a strong supporter of ASEAN efforts to provide environmental services such as
solid waste and wastewater management through official development assistance (ODA) includingthat provided by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA). In addition to these efforts,
interest is increasing in Japan to export high-quality environmental services to ASEAN, by creating
an attractive export package from the private sector of environmental goods and infrastructure
management services to supply the growing demand for environmental services in ASEAN.
The following lists past and current JICA technical assistance projects on environment services inselected ASEAN countries:• Capacity Development Project on Water Quality Management Project (Phase 2) in the Philippines(2006–2011)• Project on Capacity Building for Urban Water Supply System (Phase 3) in Cambodia (2012–2017)• Capacity Development Project for Improvement of Management Ability of Water Supply
Authorities in Lao PDR (2012–2017)• Project for Improvement of Management Capacity of Water Supply Sector (MaWaSU 2) (2018–2023)• Project on Rural Water Supply Technology in the Central Dry Zone in Myanmar (2006–2009)

Brunei Darussalam. The Public Works Department of the Ministry of Development is responsible for
operating a clean and safe sewage system in the country.6 The key regulatory framework to manage
the water system includes the Water Supply Act (Akta Bekalan Air) c.121.7 According to the Public
Works Department, a total of 17 sewage treatment plants are in operation in Brunei Darussalam,with 45 major sewage pumping stations, 148 subsidiary sewage pumping stations and with total
sewer lines reaching 739 km (table 5).

Table 5. Sewage infrastructure in Brunei Darussalam (undated)
No. of sewage
treatment plants

No. of major sewerage
pumping stations

No. of subsidiary sewerage
pumping stations

Sewer lines(km)

Brunei Muara

9

29

122

550.07

Tutong

4

1

16

48.1

Belait

3

15

6

140.5

Temburong

1

-

4

0.7

Total

17

45

148

739.37

District

Source: Public Works Department, Brunei Darussalam, http://www.mod.gov.bn/pwd/SitePages/Sewerage%20Assets.aspx.

6

7

Public Works Department, Ministry of Development, Brunei Darussalam, http://www.mod.gov.bn/pwd/SitePages/
SERVICES.aspx.
Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation, Ministry of Development, Brunei Darussalam, http://www.env.
gov.bn/SitePages/Environmental%20Acts%20and%20Guidelines.aspx.

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11Cambodia. The Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Rural Development
and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport all participate in managing the national wastewater
treatment system in Cambodia (table 4). The Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources
Management (1996) underlies the implementation and regulation of environmental quality services
on water pollution.
The Department of Sub-National Public Infrastructure and Engineering of the Ministry of Public
Works and Transport oversees the sewage system in the country. Cambodia faces various challenges
such as sewage and draining flooding during the rainy season, lack of a sewerage sector masterplan and inadequate human and financial resources. Moreover, no certified enforcement agency
is responsible for the decentralised water treatment system. The Government of Cambodia has
adopted the Millennium Development Goals target for water supply and sanitation, specifying that by2015 80 per cent of the urban population and 50 per cent of the rural population will have access tosafe water and that 74 per cent of the urban population and 30 per cent of the rural population will
have access to improved sanitation.8 To realise these targets, Cambodia is currently working withvarious international partners, including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), EU and JICA to develop
a wastewater treatment system to accommodate the growing need for wastewater treatment.
Specifically, Cambodia has received funding loans from ADB for four water sanitation projects from2018 to 2022.
Indonesia. District and local governments mainly regulate sewage service and wastewater
management. In the beginning of 2000, the central government accelerated reforms to improvewater supply and sanitation in the country, including• Establishing the Acceleration of Urban Sanitation Development Program to assist local
governments in preparing a City Sanitation Strategy, comprehensive citywide sanitation planning• Including sanitation targets in the 2010–2014 and 2015–2019 Medium-Term Development Plans• Constructing a decentralised wastewater treatment system countrywide• Expanding the coverage of centralised sewerage systems• Increasing national government expenditure on sanitation9• Increasing membership of the Association of Cities and Districts Concerned about Sanitation inIndonesia, established in 2011 (World Bank, 2013a).
Despite the accelerating reforms, only 115 million litres of urban wastewater is reportedly treated
per day, or approximately 1 per cent of the total urban wastewater produced (World Bank, 2013a).
Furthermore, while more than 60 per cent of the urban population has flush toilets discharging toseptic tanks, only 4 per cent of septage is treated despite the construction of almost 150 septage
treatment plants during the past 20 years (World Bank, 2013a).
Lao PDR. The Department of Housing and Urban Planning, Water Supply Division, under the Ministryof Public Works and Transport, primarily manages wastewater management in Lao PDR. Other
ministries involved include the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment and the city-level
Vientiane Urban Development Administration Authority (table 4).

89Mr. Meng Kro, Cambodia representative for the JICA Environmental Protection Project. Presentation in the Asia
Wastewater Management Seminar on 21 November 2017, organised by the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization Investment and Technology Promotion Office in Tokyo, Japan Management Association and theSociety of Chemical Engineers in Japan.
National government expenditure on sanitation increased eightfold between 2006 and 2012, from IDR540–IDR4,200 billion (World Bank, 2013a).

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Decision No. 37/PM of 1999 spearheaded the comprehensive national policy on the water supply andwastewater management system. Wastewater handling in most urban areas primarily comprises
onsite disposal without treatment, and untreated wastewater is usually emptied into public drains
or natural bodies of water. The decentralised wastewater treatment system (DEWATS) was recently
introduced in the country and is increasing in use as the government encourages decentralisation ofwater sanitation at the community level.
Challenges related to urban water supply and wastewater treatment include an inadequate legal
framework and unclear institutional responsibilities, lack of capacity of public institutions to manage thewastewater sector financially and in terms of technology, lack of sufficient toilets, flooding and others.
The water sanitation sector depends heavily on donor funding and has not seen an increase in private
sector participation because consumers, especially low-income households, are unwilling or unable to
pay the cost. PPPs on wastewater treatment have started, such as the partnership with the Bremen
Overseas Research & Development Association from 2013 to 2015 providing national- and local-leveltechnical assistance in management, operations and maintenance in the implementation of DEWATS.
Malaysia. The National Water Services Commission, or SPAN, is the central authority in Malaysia
that oversees and regulates water supply and sewerage services (table 4). The main function of
SPAN is to implement and enforce the laws related to water supply and sewerage services and toformulate and implement policies to improve overall water supply and sewerage services. SPAN
covers the services in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territories of Putrajaya and Labuan.
The Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara Act 2006 (Act 654) and the Water Services Industry
Act 2006 (Act 655) mandates the provision of water supply and wastewater industries (Academy of
Science Malaysia, 2015). The 2015 study on water supply and wastewater management in Malaysia
found that no clear policy actions have addressed sewerage services. However, Section 15(a) of the
National Water Services Commission Act mentioned a national policy objective for the sewerageindustry. Indah Water Konsortium prepared a National Sewerage Policy draft in 2010, but it has yet
to be approved by the relevant authorities for implementation (Academy of Science Malaysia, 2015).
Sewerage system facilities in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan consist of
public and private sewage treatment plants, communal septic tanks, individual septic tanks andtraditional systems such as pour flush. Table 6 presents the number of facilities and populationequivalent for each type of system (SPAN, 2018).

Table 6. Sewerage facilities in Malaysia, 2017–2018
2017
Sewerage facilities

2018

Quantity

Populationequivalent

Quantity

Populationequivalent

Public sewage treatment plant (a+b)

6 871

25 258 155

6 932

26 128 858

a. Multipoint plant

6 770

17 125 895

6 830

17 513 195

b. Regional plant101

8 132 260

102

8 615 663

Private sewage treatment plant

3 603

3 373 471

3 841

4 010 610

Communal septic tank

4 359

531 1274 231

515 527

Individual septic tank

1 354 986

6 934 008

1 357 553

6 998 919

Traditional system

1 171 555

5 857 775

1 185 032

5 925 160

Network pumping station

1 183

-

1 237

-

Length of sewer network (km)20 100-20 225-

Source: SPAN (2018).

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13Myanmar. The Ministry of Industry, which has jurisdiction over the industrial zones in Yangon and
Mandalay, is responsible for the development of industrial wastewater treatment facilities by thefactories within the industrial zones (table 4). The Ministry of Industry also issues operational
licences for the factories and thus plays a strong role in regulating wastewater treatment of thefactories in the industrial zones. Locally, major cities such as Yangon, Nay Pyi Daw and Mandalay
have their respective City Development Committees. Under these committees are the water andsanitation departments and pollution control and cleaning departments that work together tomanage industrial wastewater (table 4).
The implementation of the “Environmental Conservation Law” in Myanmar in 2012 createdmomentum for setting national standards for wastewater treatment. Its Chapter 7 on environmental
protection mandates that business operators, as polluters, install equipment to monitor, control
and treat their wastes, and that related organisations and entities within the industrial zone provide
financial support for environmental protection. Other laws related to the regulation and managementof wastewater treatment include the Private Industrial Enterprise Law (Law No. 22, 1990) and theWater and Air Pollution Control Plan (Directive No. 3 of 1995, Ministry of Industry No. 1) (table 4).
In 2018, the Myanmar Presidential Office issued the Project Bank Notification, which lists
infrastructure-related projects intended to attract investment through PPP. Despite the law
mandating that businesses in the industrial zone manage their own wastes, funding, installation
space and human resource challenges hinder business operators from introducing wastewater
treatment equipment. The potential market for industrial wastewater monitoring treatment
is estimated at around JPY18 billion ($0.2 billion) and JPY400 billion ($4 billion) for wastewater
treatment equipment (METI, 2019). Because few companies have the capacity to engage in core
processes, and few experts dabble in the area, opportunities for international wastewater companies
are very promising.
Given the investment climate in Myanmar, service contract (e.g., lease contract, in-house leasing)seems to be the most viable instrument as it does not require an initial cost for capital investment
for local companies that lack significant funding. Another option to explore is a combination of sales
contracts, maintenance contracts and operation and maintenance.
Philippines. Many institutions are involved at the national level to manage the sewage system,
including the National Economic Development Authority, which sets policies for the sector throughits water resources sub-committee; the Department of Public Works and Highways, which is
responsible for implementing the Sewerage and Septage Management Programme and theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which regulates effluent standards
for wastewater quality (table 4). In 2004, the Clean Water Act (Republic Act 9275) was enacted
and its implementing rules and regulations were prepared in 2005. The Clean Water Act provided
the regulatory framework for the Sewerage and Septage Management Programme led by the
Department of Public Works and Highways (table 4).
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Systems (MWSS) operates the sewage system in Metro
Manila and parts of Cavite and Rizal. MWSS was established in 1971 as a public entity, but was
privatised in 1997, following the enactment of the Water Crisis Act of 1995, to improve its operational
effectiveness and efficiency. In August 1997, the Philippine government granted a 25-year concession
to two private consortia comprising local and international partners; for Manila Water Company, Inc.
(for the East Zone) and Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (for the West Zone), concession is extended
until 2037.10 Manila Water Company and Maynilad are accelerating coverage and are currently

10

Summary of the information obtained at the MWSS website, http://mwss.gov.ph/.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

targeting full coverage of urban sanitation by the end of the concession period. In 2017, Maynilad
served more than 1.5 million people, and the total volume of wastewater treated since 2007 reached
518 million litres (table 7).11

Table 7. Wastewater treated by Maynilad Water Services Inc., 2007–2017
2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

2017

Population served (sewerage)

530 228568 929623 738

823 369

1 288 871

1 455 920

Volume of wastewater treated,
million litres, cumulative since 2007

45 967

132 735

216 422298 423400 250517 721

Source: Maynilad website, https://www.mayniladwater.com.ph/our-company/.

While some progress has occurred in the Metro Manila area, a significant gap exists between
services in other areas and the overall country coverage for sewerage (only about 4 per cent) (World
Bank, 2013c).
Singapore. The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment is the primary governmental agency
that deals with environmental matters, together with its two statutory boards: the Public Utilities
Board (PUB) and the National Environment Agency (table 4) (APEC Policy Support Unit, 2016). PUB is
the national water agency that manages Singapore’s water supply, water catchment and used waterin an integrated way. According to PUB, about 600 million cubic metres of used water are treatedeach year, in four water reclamation plants in Changi, Ulu Padan, Jurong and Kranji.
Singapore has invested heavily in research and technology to ensure water security, given its
geographical challenges and heavy dependence on imported water. Since 2001, PUB has outsourced$3 billion worth of water infrastructure projects, such as the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, Marina
Barrage (desalination and rainfall storage), NEWater (recycled water) facilities and desalination
plants, to the private sector. As a result, Singapore has achieved world-class capability in total water
management, with a robust water ecosystem comprising 180 water companies and 26 research
centers in 2016. With its strategic location in Asia, Singapore is positioning itself as the “Global
Hydrohub” and attracting investment from major global companies such as GE, Veolia and Toray. The
number of water companies in Singapore has reportedly tripled between 2006 and 2016 (Research,Innovation and Enterprise Secretariat, Singapore, 2016).
Thailand. At least four ministries and agencies are involved in wastewater management in Thailand:
the Ministry of Industry, the Wastewater Management Authority under the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Public Health, the National Environmental Board andlocal authorities.
The Ministry of Industry is responsible for industrial wastewater management as stipulated by
the Factory Act of 1992, including collecting, conveying and treating wastewater and setting andadhering to the wastewater quality effluent standard. The Wastewater Management Authority is
responsible for national community wastewater policymaking and provides technical advice to local
authorities. The Ministry of Public Health is responsible for human excreta collection, transportationand treatment, as stipulated under the Public Health Act of 1992.12 At the country level, the United

11
12

Maynilad website, http://www.mayniladwater.com.ph/company-milestones.php.
http://www.ais.unwater.org/ais/pluginfile.php/501/mod_page/content/87/report_thailand.pdf.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

15Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific has already identified six problems
in the area of wastewater management:• No mechanism in terms of law enforcement to monitor and drive wastewater management• Lack of law enforcement in stipulation of wastewater treatment tariff• Insufficient or lacking budget• Lack of continuous maintenance of wastewater collection and treatment system• Lack of staff to monitor the wastewater treatment system• Lack of information system on wastewater treatment works such as pipeline connection fromhouseholds.13
Local authorities, such as municipality, district administration and provincial administration, which
belong to the Ministry of Interior, are the main players for community wastewater management.
Local authorities are also responsible for construction of sewerage systems and community
wastewater treatment plants. As of 2016, Thailand has 101 wastewater treatment plants. The
Bangkok area has eight wastewater treatment plants, administrated by the Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration. Local authorities manage 78 plants, and the Wastewater Management Authority
manages 15 plants.14 The total wastewater volume produced in Thailand is around 9.6 million cubic
metres per day, and 101 wastewater treatment plants have the capacity to treat around 3.2 million
cubic metres per day or 34 per cent of daily wastewater.15
Viet Nam. The World Bank Viet Nam Urban Wastewater Review (2013b) found that out of Viet Nam’surban population of 25 million, 55 per cent has access to septic tanks with sewerage, 22 per centhas septic tanks with no sewerage and 5 per cent has no septic tank and uses direct sewerage. Only
10 per cent of wastewater safely collected from sewerage systems and 4 per cent of that collectedfrom septage are properly treated for disposal. A large portion of wastewater remains untreated
and discharged directly and unsafely. In recent years, significant developments in urban wastewater
management increased the percentage of households with septic tanks to 90 per cent; 70–80 per
cent of households have access to piped drainage and sewerage systems and around 17 per cent ofcollected sewerage is treated by centralised wastewater treatment plants. Viet Nam received fundsof more than $1 billion in the last five years, 80 per cent of which came from ODA and the rest is fromthe state budget (Nguyen, 2018).
Urban water supply in Viet Nam currently has around 800 centralised water supply systems and 110
urban water supply companies (Nguyen, 2018). The main operators of wastewater treatment is the
One Member Limited Company, which is a state-owned entity.
In 2015, the New Decree No. 15/2015 encouraged PPPs in infrastructure development, such asbuild-operate-transfer (BOT), build-own-operate (BOO) and design-build-lease (DBL) modes inwater projects, resulting in Binh An BOT, Thu Duc BOO, Dong Tam BOO, Minh Duc DBL, etc., andstimulating an increase in foreign shareholders, such as the Song Da, Kenh Dong, and Song Duongwastewater treatment plants, among others (Nguyen, 2018).
Urban sanitation management in Viet Nam is spread among the Ministry of Construction, theMinistry of Health, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Ministry of

13

14

15

Presentation by Mr. Suchai Janepojanat, Director of Organization Development, Department of the Wastewater
Management Authority, Thailand, https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/WMA_Waste%20management.pdf.
International Water Association, http://www.iwa-network.org/WaCCliM/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Thailandutility-factsheet.pdf.
Presentation by Mr. Suchai Janepojanat, Director of Organization Development, Department of the Wastewater
Management Authority, Thailand, https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/WMA_Waste%20management.pdf.

16

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Science and Technologies. Development planning, introducing technologies, and issuing regulations
and construction standards for these activities are the responsibility of the Ministry of Construction,
while water source and water source protection are the responsibility of MoNRE. The Ministry of
Health manages water quality and standards for drinking water and domestic water (table 8) (IGES,
2013). Many water supply and sanitation projects were implemented with support from donors,
international organisations, local communities or the private sector (IGES, 2013).

Table 8. Institutional arrangement of urban sanitation in Viet Nam
Ministries

Functions

Ministry of Construction (MoC)

Line Ministry of urban water supply, sanitation and drainage

Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment (MoNRE)

Manages water sources, water use, pollution and hydrology

Ministry of Health (MoH)

Controls drinking water and sanitation quality

Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST)Manages standardisation and technology in water and sanitation

Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)

Allocates state budget. Approves investment projects (allprojects need approval)

Ministry of Finance (MoF)

Distributes state funds to sectors and projects, sets annual
sector goals and regulates accounting

Local Provincial People's Committee

Manages local water supply and sanitation

Source: IGES (2013).

Several major legal documents directly relate to the management and development of urban
drainage and sewerage systems, including the following (IGES, 2013):• Law on Environmental Protection, promulgated 29 November 2005, effective July 2006.
• Circular No.09/2009/TT-BXD dated 21 May 2009 of the Ministry of Construction on provisions
implementing the content of the Prime Minister’s Decree No.88/2007/ND-CP dated 28 May 2007
on urban drainage and industrial areas.
• Decision 1930/QD-TTg dated 20 November 2009 of the Prime Minister approving orientations forsewerage and drainage development in urban centers and industrial zones up to 2025 and a vision
for 2050.
• Decision No.16/2008/QD-BTNMT dated 31 December 2008 of MoNRE on national technicalregulations covering surface water quality, underground water quality, coastal water, wastewaterand pesticide residues in soil.
• Decree No. 25/2013/ND-CP dated 29 March 2013 on environmental protection charges for
wastewater. This decree replaces Decree No. 67/2003/ND-CP dated 13 June 2003, No. 04/2007/
ND-CP and 26/2010/ND-CP.
Opportunities for private sector participation in water and sewerage services in Viet Nam haveinitially been scarce due to the lack of appropriate policies and incentives, inadequate tariffs andlack of an effective regulatory system (World Bank, 2013b). Viet Nam’s water industry is currently in
an intensive development period, which sees further expansion of services, focus on improvementof service quality and increasing participation of different stakeholders (Nguyen, 2018). The following
challenges in Viet Nam’s wastewater management could be potential areas for private sector
companies to explore, including build-transfer projects and contracts for operation of wastewater
treatment plants, wastewater system operation and management and septic tank emptying.
Construction of wastewater systems and septic tank to household connections are currently open

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

17for PPPs. Drainage and water harvesting in Viet Nam also opens opportunities for green andsmart solutions. The collection and sharing of data, investment and joint-bidding opportunities,
cooperation between local and international experts and the import of goods represent potential for
future development in the water and sewerage industry in Viet Nam.

2. Refuse Disposal Services16
Urbanisation and income growth relate directly to solid waste. In the ASEAN countries, with theirincreasing urban populations, solid waste generation is expected to grow accordingly. According
to UNEP (2017, p. vi), current per capita MSW generation in the region is 1.14 kg/capita/day, whereIndonesia produces the most MSW at 64 million tons/yr; Viet Nam follows at 22 million tons, thePhilippines at 14.6 million tons, Malaysia at 12.84 million tons, Singapore at 7.5 million tons,
Myanmar at 0.84 million tons, and Lao PDR at 0.07 million tons.
Waste disposal is a common public service. The 2018 World Bank report, What a Waste 2.0, identified
that the waste collection rate in East Asia and the Pacific region is only at 71 per cent and that 135
million tons of waste are not collected (Kaza et al., 2018). Related to the solid waste management
challenge are marine plastics, which pose a threat to marine biodiversity and have recently received
widespread global attention. The share of plastic in municipal solid waste in ASEAN is 10–18 per cent.
This subsector of environmental services helps companies use less energy by changing processes
so that they can reduce gas emissions along a typical value chain (figure 4). This process technology
is widely used from small cattle firms where animal dung, which is a greenhouse gas producer,
can be treated and used as fuel, to large fossil-fuel energy plants where carbon capture andstorage technology are used to reduce gas emissions. This subsector has potential to grow as bothconsumers and producers become increasingly aware of sustainability.

Principal firm’s core operations
Suppliers

Input
substitution

ProcesschangesWastemanagement
disposal/
recycling

Support and influence
from principal firmIndustrial
customers

Final consumers

Raw materials

Figure 4. Role of waste management and disposal and recycling along a company’s value
chain to reduce gas emissions

Support and influence
from principal firm
Technological upgrading
in low-carbon process

Source: based on UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2010: Investing in low-carbon economy, p. 105.

16

Defined as “Refuse collection and disposal services. Collection services of garbage, trash, rubbish and waste,
whether from households or from industrial and commercial establishments, transport services and disposal
services by incineration or by other means. Waste reduction services are also included” (CPC9402).

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Brunei Darussalam. The Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation, under the Ministry ofDevelopment, primarily oversees waste management and disposal in the country. National policies
related to waste management are the Environmental Protection and Management Order 2016 andthe Hazardous Waste (Control of Export and Transit) Order 2013.
In Brunei Darussalam, the daily waste generation average per person is 1.4 kg, the same as theASEAN average. Around 400–500 tons of waste are delivered to the country’s primary landfill in
Sungai Pakum Tutong District every day. Of this amount, 36 per cent is organic waste, 18 per centis paper and 16 per cent is plastic. Green initiatives include the No Plastic Bag Weekend, in placesince 2011, which is expected to reduce the disposal of 274,000 plastic bags every weekend, totaling
13.52 million bags per year.
Brunei Darussalam is actively promoting PPPs in delivering non-core government services as
one of its national strategies towards Wawasan Brunei 2035. Existing PPPs on hazardous waste
disposal services include the Kehasan Sdn Bhd, which provides gasification, wastewater treatment
and decanting in its main facility, the Bukit Udal Material Recovery Facility. The Department ofEnvironment, Parks and Recreation issues permits for various environment service providers.
In 2017, there were 16 registered local waste collection service providers, and in 2020, there are
17 registered local recycling companies.
Cambodia. In Cambodia, solid wastes are generally categorised into three types: domestic/
household waste, commercial waste, and industrial and hazardous waste (including healthcare
waste) (PIC, 2015). The imperative for a national policy on solid waste management in Cambodia wasenacted in 1999 through the Sub-Decree on Solid Waste Management, which created the legal basis
for the regulation of MSW and hazardous waste to protect the population’s health and conserve theenvironment. The policy identified the Ministry of Environment (MOE) as responsible for establishingguidelines and management for the collection, storage, transport, recycling and disposal stages.
Meanwhile, local governments at the provincial and municipality levels are responsible for thecollection, transport, recycling, minimising and dumping of waste at their respective localities(Article 5). Subsequent legal frameworks include the National Strategy on Integrated Solid Waste
Management (2011–2025), which includes a chapter on the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle); the Annual
Report of the Department of the Environment of Phnom Penh (2014) and the Decision of theCambodian Council of Ministers on the Improvement of Liquid and SWM [solid waste management]in Phnom Penh (2015).
The following are the laws, policies and guidelines related to the management of solid waste disposal
in Cambodia:• Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Management (1996)• Sub-decree on Solid Waste Management (1999)• Sub-decree on Environmental Impact Assessment (1999)• Prakas (Declaration) on the delegation of responsibilities to provincial/municipality departments
by implementation of the Sub-decree on the Monitoring of Water Pollution and Waste
Management (1999)• Prakas on the organisation and functioning of the Environmental Provincial-Municipal
Department (1999)• Guidelines by the MOE, non-governmental organisations and Cambodia Education and Waste
Management Organization on the implementation of the 1999 Sub-decree on Solid Waste
Management• Inter-ministerial prakas of the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Environment on Waste and SWM
Management in Provinces/Municipalities (2003).

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19

PPPs in Cambodia have increased due to challenges with public financial and human resources. For
instance, in 2002 the municipal government of Phnom Penh established a PPP with CINTRI Ltd. fora 49-year contract lease for waste collection. Another private company, Sarom Trading Company Co.
Ltd. has been licensed by the MOE to collect, transport and dispose of hazardous wastes in Phnom
Penh. In Kampot, the municipal government has contracted with GAEA Waste Management Company
to collect waste and manage a dumpsite. The case of Kampot involves close collaboration among
the Department of Environment for regulatory enforcement; the Department of Land Management,
Urban Planning and Construction to identify and designate land for landfills; the Department of
Health for village education on health and sanitation, the Department of Public Works and Transport
to grant licences to the waste collection company and the Department of Economy and Finance insetting the fees charged by the contracting company.
Indonesia. Solid waste in Indonesia is generally classified into domestic and non-domestic waste,
and non-domestic waste is further classified into hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The Law ofSolid Waste Management (Law No. 18/2008) stipulates the management of municipal solid waste
and promotes the 3Rs policy, while Law No. 32/2009 regulates industry and hazardous wastes. The
three ministries responsible for solid waste management at the national level are the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forestry’s Waste and Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management, the Ministry of
Public Works and Housing and the Ministry of Interior, while local governments oversee the direct
handling of MSW in municipalities. The main treatment of MSW is through landfilling (69 per cent),
composting (7 per cent), small-scale incineration (7 per cent), open burning (5 per cent), dumping
into rivers (3 per cent) and others (10 per cent) (UNCRD, 2017b).
Solid waste management is high on the national agenda and is included in the Long-Term National
Urban Development Plan 2015–2045. The government has secured a $100 million loan from the WorldBank to improve solid waste management services in urban areas, and $1 billion in investments
are to be leveraged for activities, particularly recycling and plastics leakage. Indonesia has also
strengthened its actions against marine plastic waste through the 2017 National Action Plan on
Marine Debris.
Indonesia recently prioritised PPPs in treating hazardous wastes, mostly through BOT schemes. As
part of the National Middle-Term Development Plan (2019–2024), the government has approved theconstruction of four hazardous waste treatment facilities in Sumatera, Kalimantan, Sumapapua andEastern Java (presentation by Indonesian environment officer in the Services Forum 2020).
Lao PDR. The Department of Housing and Urban Planning, under the Ministry of Public Work andTransport, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment oversee municipal SWM, while the
Urban Development and Administrative Agency (UDAA) has been legislated to manage the collection
and disposal of solid waste for cities. Related laws and regulations on SWM are the Agreement ofWaste Disposal Site Management of 2008 and the Agreement of the National Environmental Quality
Standard in 2009.
A major drawback is the lack of clear definition of waste, which prevents the establishment of an
efficient and systematic waste management system in the country. In major cities such as Vientiane,
Luangprabang, Savannakhet and Champasak, the UDAA organises waste collection service.
According to UDAA, around 40 per cent to 70 per cent of waste is collected and transported tolandfills (Sang-Arun and Pasomsouk, 2012). Moreover, waste disposal practices in Lao PDR do notseparate wastes, and recycling and treatment are also infrequent.
Malaysia. The National Solid Waste Management Department and the Solid Waste and Public
Cleansing Management Corporation Act 2007 primarily regulate waste management in Malaysia.
The Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government oversees waste management incollaboration with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health. Malaysia is one of the

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

first ASEAN countries to decentralise and privatise the waste management of local authorities in1995 and 1998, respectively. The solid waste management services of 48 local authorities have been
given to two concession companies: Alam Flora for the Central Region and Southern Waste for theSouthern Region (Sreenivasan et al., 2012). Malaysia has also implemented the 3Rs since the 1980s,
and related national policies were subsequently introduced: Integrated Solid Waste Managementin Malaysia (2001), National Strategic Plan for Solid Waste Management in Malaysia (2005), andMaster Plan on National Waste Minimization (2006). Environmental management activities actively
promote the recycling of wastes and processing of biomass agricultural wastes and by-products(presentation by a Malaysian investment officer). Certain conditions are imposed for waste recycling:for instance companies are not allowed to import wastes, and for biomass products, the minimum
value-added requirement is 50 per cent.
Myanmar. The country generates 5,616 tons/day with 0.44 kg/capita/day and is estimated to reach
21,012 tons/day with 0.85 kg/capita/day by 2025 (IGES, 2017). Waste management in Myanmar
remains at a preliminary stage, with the main responsibility of waste collection and disposal at thetownship and city development committee levels. In Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Daw, the Pollution
Control and Cleansing Departments under their respective city development committees manage
the waste disposal services in their areas (IGES, 2017). The National Environmental Conservation
Law (2012) was established to implement the National Environmental Policy (1994). According to
the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) 10th package,17 foreign service providers are
permitted to invest with 100 per cent foreign capital; joint ventures and contracting systems arealso allowed in Myanmar. However, the current lack of policy regulations and measures on waste
management hinder the establishment of PPPs in environmental services.
Philippines. The Philippine Development Plan 2017–2022 prioritises waste management. Republic
Act (RA) 9003, otherwise known as the Philippines Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,
provides for the necessary institutional support mechanisms and instructs all local government
units to establish ecological solid waste management programmes within their jurisdictions. The
law provides the necessary integrated solutions and recognises future opportunities for policy
enhancement through the creation of the National Solid Waste Management Commission, which will
also oversee the implementation of plans and programmes on solid waste management. The law alsoemphasises that local government units shall primarily be responsible for the implementation andenforcement of the law. Under said law, the implementation of ecological solid waste management
shall manage waste based on the following hierarchy: (a) source reduction and minimisation ofwastes generated at source; (b) source recovery, recycling and reuse of wastes at the barangay or
the smallest local unit of governance in the Philippines; (c) efficient collection and proper transfer
and transport of wastes by city/municipality and (d) efficient management of residuals and of final
disposal sites and/or any other related technologies for the destruction/reuse of residuals. DENR
has also implemented programmes such as Manila Bay Clean Up, Boracay Clean Up, Solid Waste
Management, Clean Water Program and Ground Water Assessment.
Singapore. The National Environment Agency (NEA) plans, develops and administers the country’s
solid and hazardous waste management systems. The national frameworks for waste management
are the Environmental Public Health Act and environmental public health regulations in the areas ofgeneral waste collection, general waste disposal facilities and toxic industrial waste.
Singapore is working to become a Zero Waste Nation. In 2019, the total amount of solid waste
generated was 7.23 million tons, 6 per cent less than the amount generated in 2018.18 The country

17
18

https://asean.org/storage/2012/05/AFAS-10.pdf
NEA, https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/waste-management/waste-statistics-and-overall-recycling.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

21

has adopted four strategies for a sustainable waste management system: the 3Rs, waste treatment,
landfill and ash management. Given its land limitations, the Singaporean approach is to minimise
wastes through recycling. Waste-to-energy incineration is the main method for waste management.
PPPs in public waste collection are well developed in Singapore. Waste collection is opened fortender through a bidding process for the granting of seven-to-eight-year licences. Currently, four
operators serve six sectors in the country: ALBA W&H Smart City Pte Ltd, SembWaste Pte Ltd,
Veolia ES Singapore Pte Ltd and 800 Super Waste Management Pte Ltd.
Thailand. The Pollution Control Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
oversees MSW operations, while the Ministry of Public Health monitors waste management
operations in municipalities, the Ministry of Industry provides licences for waste treatment facilities
and the Ministry of Energy provides subsidies for waste-to-energy projects. As in other ASEAN
countries, local governments manage solid waste disposal at the municipal level.
Key policies in waste management in Thailand include the following:• National 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Strategic Plan
• Government Green Procurement Programme• National Environmental Basic Plan (2017–2021)• National Solid Waste Management Master Plan (2016–2021)• Action Plan “Thailand Zero Waste” (2016–2017).
The current level of household participation in source MSW streams is low at less than 50 per cent.
MSW is both landfilled and incinerated, 39 per cent of waste collected is properly disposed, 34 percent of waste generated is utilised and the remaining 27 per cent is improperly disposed (Thailand
Country Report at the Ninth Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific, March 2019).
Viet Nam. At the national level, MoNRE is primarily responsible for environment-related programmes.
Under MoNRE is the Viet Nam Environmental Administration, which houses the Waste Managementand Environment Promotion Agency, which oversees waste management. Other line ministries
share related waste management processes. The Ministry of Construction establishes andmonitors standards for waste treatment facilities and management of wastes from construction
and development. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development manages agricultural andrural waste, the Ministry of Health manages hospital wastes and the Ministry of Industry and Trademanages industrial wastes.
Several laws and regulations establish the management and coordination of MSW in Viet Nam:
• The Law on Environmental Protection (2014) promotes the 3Rs.
• The National Strategy for Environmental Protection (MoNRE, 2012) establishes targets forrecycling.
• The National Green Growth Strategy (2011–2020) includes directives on waste reduction andmanagement.
• Decree 38/2015/ND-CP addresses waste and scrap management.
• Decision 16/2015/QD-TTg concerns take-back and treatment of discarded products.
• Circular 36/2015/TT-BTNMT covers management of hazardous waste.
• Inter-Ministerial Circular 58/2015/BYT-BTNMT concerns the management of medical waste.
Viet Nam lacks a clear definition of waste. Instead, waste is generally classified as non-hazardousand hazardous and as household/domestic, industrial and medical. It is also generally understoodas waste generated from urban areas, be it from households, streets, construction and demolition,
offices, hospitals, industries, etc. (UNCRD, 2017a).

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

At the local level, the Provincial People’s Council supervises waste management activities and has
respective departments that oversee management at the municipality level. In Ho Chi Minh City,
private operators collect about 70 per cent of MSW. These operators also set the fees for householdcollection service based on Decision No. 88/2008 of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City
(Schneider et al., 2017). For instance, Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Company Limited
performs waste collection and treatment. At present, 473 companies provide solid waste treatment,
and 86 companies have hazardous waste treatment licence. The capacities of companies managing
solid waste treatment meet 15 per cent of the current demand, and 14 per cent for hazardous waste
treatment (presentation by Vietnamese environment officer in the Services Forum 2020).
The National Strategy for Integrated Solid Waste Management to 2025 sets clear directions for waste
management, specifically integrating the 3R approach towards a circular economy. The developmentof key economic areas in the North, Central and South regions, as well as in the Mekong Delta, theCau River basin, the Nhue-Day River basin and the Dong Nai River basin, foresees the developmentof a regional solid waste treatment facility. This presents a huge investment opportunity, especiallyin upgrading waste treatment facilities, amounting to $3 billion up to 2030 (UNCRD, 2017a). To
attract investors, the government has expressed willingness to provide preferential land, tax breaks,
infrastructure investment, technology research and development support, labour training andinvestment credits to projects related to waste management and the 3Rs (UNCRD, 2017a).

3. Sanitation and Similar Services19
Water and sewage services cover sanitation services in most ASEAN countries as they are regulatedby the same laws. The 2014 ADB report on urban water and sanitation in Southeast Asia found alack of clear national policies and plans for sanitation development. Other problem areas include
financing matters, such as high capital cost, high operation and management costs, water as apriority of low-income groups and affordability and willingness to pay (ADB, 2014, p. 116).
Sanitation services in ASEAN represent significant opportunities for PPPs, especially in operationand maintenance processes. Sanitation also has the potential “to become a resource for generatingenergy, reducing water stress, producing better agricultural products, and enhancing resilience
to climate change” (ADB, 2014, p. 119). PPPs exist, but are few because of current policies thatcause overlapping and confusing roles and responsibilities of involved agencies. In addition, theinfrastructure necessary to build in water sanitation is often costly and usually publicly funded.
Typically, the private sector enters leasing and concession contracts with a local government
jurisdiction to build, design, operate or manage the treatment plants. However, because water andsanitation are a public service, the cost for the end user is typically low and does not provide an
incentive for for-profit businesses, unless the government subsidises costs to meet the cost of theservices. This leads to poor service quality or termination of contracts from the private sector. The
following discussion provides an overview of the organisation of wastewater systems and services in
the 10 ASEAN member states.
Brunei Darussalam. The Department of Drainage and Sewerage/Public Works Department under
the Ministry of Development directs water sanitation in the country, together with the Environmental
Sanitation Health Section of the Ministry of Health. By 2035, the Department of Drainage andSewerage/Public Works Department aims to establish centralised sewerage coverage for 70 per

19

Defined as “Other sanitation and similar services including outdoor sweeping services and snow- and ice clearing
services” (CPC9403).

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23cent of the population. The 2013 data show that 92 per cent of the population receives basic sanitationand 56 per cent have centralised sewer service, while 45 per cent use septic tanks (ASEAN IWRM,
n.d.). Private sector participation in sanitation services is high in Brunei Darussalam and includes
the Brunei Economic Development Board, private developers and desludging services companies.
Cambodia. The 2003 Water and Sanitation Law in Cambodia intended to create a comprehensive
national policy on water supply and sanitation in urban and rural areas. Related to this is the 2004
National Water Resource Policy for the national management and protection of water resources.
Indonesia. Indonesia’s National Policy on the Development of a Community-Based Water Supply
and Environmental Sanitation assists local governments in implementing water and sanitation
development plans in a decentralised system (ADB, 2014). In addition, the Sanitation Sector
Development Program fosters the country’s innovative response on sanitation issues by strengtheningof the sector and institutional arrangements and promoting advocacy and awareness at all levels(ADB, 2014).
Lao PDR. The National Centre for Environmental Health and Water Supply oversees managementof the technical aspects of rural water supply and environmental hygiene in Lao PDR. Meanwhile,urban water supplies are state owned and managed by provincial governments.
Malaysia. The Water Services Industry Act (2006) stipulates the policies on urban/rural sanitationand sewerage services. However, no government agency is directly responsible for sanitation
management, particularly for regulating the pour flush latrine system in rural areas. Financing inthese services includes MYR5.6 billion ($1.4 billion) in the Greater Kuala Lumpung/Klang Valley in
2011–2020 (ASEAN IWRM, n.d.). Table 9 shows the per cent of the population receiving proper watersupply services.

Table 9. Water supply coverage in Malaysia, 2017–2018% Population served
State

2017
Urban

Rural

2018
Average

Urban

Rural

Average

Johor

100.0

99.5

99.8

100.0

99.9

99.9

Kedah

100.0

96.5

98.3

100.0

96.5

98.3

Kelantan

61.5

74.4

68.0

62.4

76.2

69.3

Federal Territory of Labuan

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Melaka

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Negeri Sembilan

100.0

99.8

99.9

100.0

99.8

99.9

Pulau Pinang

100.0

99.8

99.9

100.0

99.8

99.9

Pahang

100.0

96.0

98.0

100.0

96.0

98.0

Perak

100.0

99.2

99.6

100.0

99.2

99.6

Perlis

100.0

99.0

99.5

100.0

99.0

99.5

Selangor

100.0

99.5

99.8

100.0

99.5

99.8

Terengganu

99.1

92.9

96.0

99.1

92.9

96.0

TOTAL

96.7

96.4

96.6

96.8

96.6

96.7

Source: SPAN (2018).

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Myanmar. Several ministries administer the governance and management of water sanitation
in Myanmar. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation oversees allenvironment-related issues; under it is the Environmental Conservation Department, which is
responsible for managing national environmental conservation projects. Specifically, the Pollution
Control Division under the Environmental Conservation Department manages water pollution andindustrial wastewater activities.
While the state predominantly controls governance on water sanitation in Myanmar, opportunities
for PPPs on infrastructure projects such as the construction of public water treatment facilities andwastewater treatment facilities in industrial areas are increasing. Recently, the Myanmar Investment
Commission began promoting domestic and foreign direct investments in six selected sectors
over the next five-year period (2021–2026). As a result, the Myanmar Investment Commission has
approved investment projects on treated water supply from a Thai company worth $6.1 million;
laboratory testing, consulting, supply and installation of machinery and maintenance services forwater and wastewater treatment from another Thai company worth $1.5 million, and a central
wastewater treatment plant and collection system for the Mandalay Industrial Zone under a BOT
contract worth $18.9 million also from a Thai company (presentation by a Myanmar trade officer in
the Services Forum 2020).
Philippines. National sanitation policies include the National Policy on Urban Sewerage andSanitation (1994), the Philippine Sustainable Sanitation Roadmap by the Department of Health andthe National Sewerage and Septage Management Plan under the Department of Public Works andHighways. The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) promotes and oversees the developmentof water supply systems in cities and municipalities outside of Metro Manila. Within Metro Manila
cities, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) plans, monitors and coordinates waste
management, transport decongestion and maintenance of the capital’s livability and sustainability.
Singapore. According to the Singapore Department of Statistics, 100 per cent of the population has
access to improved drinking water sources and improved sanitation since 2000.20 Private companies,
such as Century Water, Novexx and Net Water Asia, provide sanitation services in Singapore,especially in industrial areas.
Thailand. As of 2014, 98 per cent of the population has access to clean water, while 96 per cent of
the population has access to improved sanitation (Koontanakulvong et al., 2014, p. 7). The country
has adopted a sanitation programme in the National Economic and Social Development Plans and acomprehensive plan for water supply, excreta disposal and refuse disposal (ADB, 2014).
Viet Nam. Decree 88/2007, together with Decision 1930/QD-TTg, sets the targets under the government
strategies on urban wastewater and drainage management. Despite an increase in investments inurban sanitation and wastewater treatment through ODA, major developments in national urban
sanitation remain unsuccessful as most have focused on providing treatment facilities but provide
limited collection systems (World Bank, 2013b). Only a few stations and treatment plants currently
operate in Hanoi, such as those located in North Thang Long, Van Tri, Kim Lien, Truc Bach, Bay Mau,
Ho Tay and Yen Son.21
In 2019, the Viet Nam Water Supply and Sewerage Association organised a capacity-building
project together with the Finnish Water Forum, a public-private consortium of companies, research
institutes and universities that provides water-related solutions, as part of the cooperative projectcalled “Developing Water Supply and Sanitation in Vietnam through Partnerships” from 2017 to20
21

Department of Statistics Singapore, https://www.singstat.gov.sg/find-data/sdg/goal-6.
NGO International. “Overview of Wastewater Treatment in Vietnam”, http://ngoenvironment.com/en/Tin-tuc-n5OVERVIEW-OF-WASTEWATER-TREATMENT-IN-VIETNAM-d52.html.

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25

2020.22 This cooperation is supported by the Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2016, Nagaoka
International Corporation, a Japanese company that uses an extremely high-speed chemical-freegroundwater treatment system, agreed to share technology with Hanoi Water Co. Ltd. In addition,
Viet Nam also has a cooperative project with the Australian Water Association through the Viet
Nam–Australian Water Utility Improvement Program (Twinning Program) and with Germany via theGerman–Viet Namese Cooperation Project on Capacity Building for Water Sector in Viet Nam from2013 to 2019, which was supported by the German government.

4. Other Environmental Services
This category of environmental services is generally not related to infrastructure and is mostly
provided competitively via business-to-business relationships. The four subsectors under thiscategory (also in figure 1) are• Cleaning of exhaust gases (CPC9404)• Noise abatement (CPC9405)• Nature and landscape protection (CPS9406)• Other environmental protection (CPC9409).
Air and noise pollution abatement usually involve a wide variety of services such as engineering,consulting, and design for environmental purposes. These services arise from efforts to comply
with environmental regulations, which have increased due to national environmental legislation.
The following descriptions focus on the institutional framework as data related to this category ofservices are hard to obtain.
Brunei Darussalam. The 2002 Pollution Control Guidelines for the Industrial Development stipulate
the assessment and regulation of emissions, effluents and discharge from development andconstruction activities. In addition, the Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines are prescribedin the conduct of various environmental services and activities. These two guidelines complement
the regulation of environmental services in the country.
Cambodia. The Sub-Decree on the Control of Air Pollution (1999) was enacted to control air
pollution. The 1996 Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Management requires
an environmental impact assessment (EIA) prior to the approval of public or private environmentrelated projects and services. Based on this law, the project owners applying for assessment shall
pay the service fee for the EIA examination and monitoring.
Indonesia. The Environmental Protection Law (2009) mandates that business/activities related toenvironmental services apply for environmental permits based on environmental feasibility (Article31) or recommendation of Environmental Management Efforts and Environment Monitoring Efforts,
referred to as UKL–UPL (Upaya Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup–Upaya Pemantauan Lingkungan
Hidup), which are environment permissions in the country. The minister, governors or regents/
mayors shall issue the permit according to their respective boundaries of authority.
Lao PDR. The Environmental Protection Law (1999) mandates the regulation of environmental
services. The Science, Technology and Environment Agency implements the policies at the national
level, while its corresponding monitoring unit implements projects at the provincial, municipal andspecial zone levels.

22

Finnish Water Forum. “FWF in Vietnam: Developing Water Supply and Sanitation Sector in Vietnam through New
Partnerships”, http://www.finnishwaterforum.fi/wp/fi/2017/09/12/fwf-in-vietnam-developing-water-supply-andsanitation-sector-in-vietnam-through-new-partnerships/.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Malaysia. Section 23 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 mandates noise regulation at acceptablelevels, while the EIA stipulates the requirements for noise level compliance, monitoring andmitigation for construction and other operations in commercial business and industrial zones andlow-density residential and suburban and urban residential areas. The Department of Environment
under the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change manages noise
abatement services.
Myanmar. Under the Environmental Conservation Law (2012) and the Environmental Conservation
Law Rules (2014), the Environmental Conservation Committee stipulates the standards for the
management and regulation of noise and vibration quality standards, emissions and effluent
standards. The Myanmar investment portfolio on environmental services is shaped by different tools
and frameworks: the initial environmental examination studies the feasibility and potential impacts
of a project, while the EIA evaluates the potential impact to the environment and society according toEnvironmental Conservation Law Rules. Other assessment tools also exist to measure the potential
impacts to the society, health and ecosystem of the country.
Philippines. The Philippine Environment Code (1977) stipulates the standards for environmental
services such as ambient air quality, national emissions, community noise, noise-producing
equipment and aircraft emissions. The Environmental Management Bureau23 regulates and monitors
air quality and noise and aircraft noise, while the Land Transportation Commission implements
the standards for vehicular emissions. PENRO, CENRO, Climate Change Commission, LWUA andMMDA have authority to control and monitor environmental standards.
Singapore. Noise abatement and control in Singapore involves construction, industrial and vehicular
noise controls. NEA sets the regulations for permissible noise levels for construction work, factories
and vehicles. In addition, NEA oversees and regulates cleaning service establishments to maintaina clean and livable environment. The agency provides services for offices and commercial buildings,
food and beverage establishments and conservancy. Of more than 1,700 environmental service
establishments, 74 per cent are involved in the provision of cleaning services (NEA Licensing
Database, 2016).
Thailand. Several regulations on noise abatement in Thailand include Office of National Resources
and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) No. 15 (1997) and ONEP No. 29 (2007).
Viet Nam. Chapter 9, Section 5 of the 2014 Environmental Protection Law stipulates the regulations
and management of dust, exhaust gases and noise, while Chapters 11 and 12 stipulate the various
technical regulations applied to each environmental service and to environmental monitoring,
respectively. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment oversees the management ofthese functions.

23

The National Pollution Control Commission merged with the National Environmental Protection Council, thereby
creating the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) as a staff bureau of the DENR in 1987 by virtue of Executive
Order No. 192 and absorbing the functions and powers of both the National Pollution Control Commission (withpowers and functions prescribed under Presidential Decree Nos. 984 and 1067) and National Environmental
Protection Council (with functions under Section 3 of Presidential Decree No. 1121, series of 1977). EMB was later
converted from a staff bureau to a line bureau of the DENR by virtue of RA 8749, thereby paving the way for thecreation of EMB Regional Offices.

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27II. ASCENDANCY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
The following section discusses how environmental services in ASEAN configure into the four modes
of international services trade (GATS).

1. Mode 1: Cross-Border Supply
Cross-border supply (Mode 1) of environmental services was commercially insignificant at thetime that GATS entered into force in 1995. Since then, electronic transactions have opened new
possibilities to provide environmental services across borders. In several sectors, remotely controlof equipment via computers is now feasible (WTO, 2010). Examples of cross-border supply (Mode 1)
of environmental services are as follows:• Company in country A monitors wastewater treatment in country B online (UNEP et al., 2012)• Company in country A remotely controls equipment for pump-and-treat plants for site remediation
via computers• Company in country A monitors air pollution levels in country B via computers• Company in country A provides environmental consulting, engineering designs and testing andanalysis in country B (see box 2 for an example).

Box 2. Mode 1: Case of SLP Environmental Services
SLP Environmental is an environmental consultant company based in Thailand and Myanmar. It
mainly provides consulting and advisory services on environmental, social, health, safety and risk
management to clients in Southeast Asia.
As an example of Mode 1 (cross-border supply), the Myanmar Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironmental Conservation contracted with SLP Environmental to conduct technical reviews of
EIA and initial environmental examination reports on planned offshore and onshore oil and gas
exploration activities in Myanmar.
SLP Environmental developed a standardised scoring matrix that evaluates compliance withthe requirements of Myanmar’s environmental laws and adheres to international standards ofindustry practice.
Source: SLP Environmental online website, “Technical Report Reviews of Oil and Gas Project, EIAs Myanmar”,
https://www.slpenvironmental.com/project/technical-eia-reviews/.

2. Mode 2: Consumption Abroad
The consumption abroad mode of supply (Mode 2) had limited relevance in environmental services.
However, it became an important mode in ASEAN recently, becoming sufficiently large to regulate thetransactions under this mode. Mode 2 may come into play if the transaction involves the movementof goods/items belonging to a service consumer (WTO, 2010). Examples of Mode 2 of environmental
services include

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

28

• Country A ships waste to country B for treatment and disposal• Staff of country A go to country B for training on measuring levels of pollution in groundwater(USITC, 2012).
Even before the official ban on receiving imported plastic waste in the People’s Republic of China
in January 2018, most plastic waste was redirected to countries with lesser regulations, Southeast
Asia in particular. The 2019 Greenpeace report indicates that ASEAN had a 171 per cent increase inplastic waste imports (HS24 3915), from 836,529 tons in 2016 to 2,265,962 tons in 2018. The top threeplastic-importing countries in ASEAN are Malaysia, Viet Nam and Thailand (table 10).
Table 11 shows the combined total of plastic waste exports to ASEAN: United States (439,129 tons);
Japan (430,064 tons); Hong Kong, China (149,516 tons); Germany (136,034 tons) and the United
Kingdom (112,046 tons) are the top exporters of plastic waste to ASEAN (Greenpeace, 2019).
Recent policy developments in top plastic importer countries in ASEAN reflect decreasing acceptanceof imported plastic waste. Malaysia and Viet Nam have stopped issuing new permits for plastic
waste import, while Thailand announced in 2018 its intention to ban plastic waste imports beginningin 2021.
ASEAN countries also increasingly use plastic, generating plastic waste that accounts for 10–20
per cent of their total solid waste (box 3). This fact further complicates the marine plastic problem.
Significant policy developments at the national level in four ASEAN countries concern the growing
issue of marine plastic waste. Indonesia has a National Marine Debris Action Plan, with the goal of
reducing plastic waste by 70 per cent by 2025. The Philippines has drafted a National Strategy on
Marine Litter. ASEAN states have drafted the Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris.
Finally, Viet Nam has begun drafting a National Action Plan on Management of Ocean Plastic Waste(Greenpeace, 2019).

Table 10. Plastic waste imports in ASEAN, 2016–2018 (tons)
ASEAN Member States

2016

2017

2018

Malaysia

287 673549 876872 797

Viet Nam

347 840659 057

492 389

Thailand69 487152 244481 381Indonesia

120 979

128 951

320 452

Myanmar

688

1 855

71 050Philippines

4 650

4 267

11 761

Singapore

3 354

6 422

9 018

Lao PDR

1 181

3 008

4 791

Cambodia

647

1 685

1 688

Brunei Darussalam

30

116

185

ASEAN

836 529

1 507 481

2 265 962

% Global

5.38%

11.00%

27.00%

15 553 548

13 410 919

8 358 867

GlobalSource: The International Trade Commission’s Trademap import data 2019 cited in Greenpeace (2019, p. 5).

24

HS code refers to Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, or Harmonizing System (HS) for short.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

29Table 11. Largest ﬁve exporters of plastic waste (HS3915) to ASEAN, 2018 (tons)
ASEAN
Member States

1st Highest

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

Malaysia

United States(218,134)Japan(119,010)

United Kingdom(112,019)

Germany(84,856)

Hong Kong,
China (48,384)

ThailandJapan(173,371)

Hong Kong,
China(99,932)

United States(84,462)

Australia(25,355)

People’sRepublic ofChina (19,374)

Viet NamJapan(123,254)

Thailand(11,514)

United States(74,888)

Republic ofKorea (26,126)

Australia(6,357)

Indonesia

Marshall Islands(92,682)

United States(56,753)

Germany(50,587)

Netherlands(18,892)

Australia(18,639)

MyanmarThailand(61,470)

Japan(7,094)

Malaysia(868)

Australia(707)

People’sRepublic ofChina (166)

PhilippinesJapan(2,385)

United States(1,778)

Taiwan, China(1,704)

Indonesia(1,583)

Hong Kong,
China (1,200)

SingaporeJapan(4,242)

United States(1,343)Germany(591)

Malaysia(591)

United Kingdom(523)

Lao PDR

Thailand(1,844)

Japan
(625)

United States
(308)

Spain
(129)

Republic ofKorea (76)Cambodia

United States(1,463)

Japan
(84)

Thailand(78)

People’sRepublic ofChina (40)

United Kingdom(22)

Brunei
Darussalam

People’s Republic Malaysia
of China (75)(42)

United Kingdom
(5)

India
(1)

Singapore(0.80)

Source: The International Trade Commission’s Trademap import data 2019 cited in Greenpeace (2019, p. 7).

30

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Box 3. Plastic waste in ASEAN
Among municipal solid wastes in ASEAN, plastic accounts for roughly 10 per cent of the total,
ranging from about 10 per cent for Singapore and Viet Nam to 18 per cent for Myanmar andThailand (box figure 3.1). Plastic waste draws world attention as it affects biodiversity, pollutes landand ocean and has reached an intolerable level. Adding to growing waste generated domestically,
growing plastic waste trade represents another difficult dimension of waste management.
In particular, the prohibition of importation of plastic waste by the People’s Republic of China has
eliminated an important export destination. Thus, much of this waste has floated into the ocean,much of which has reached ASEAN seashores, constituting a marine plastic problem.

Box figure 3.1. Share of plastic in total municipal solid waste in ASEAN, 2016
(Per cent)

am
et

N

nd
Vi

ai

la

e
Th

Si

ng

ap

or

es
in
pp

Ph

ili

nm

ar

a
ya

si
ay
al

o

M

M

R
PD

a
La

do

ne

si

a
In

di
bo
m

Ca

Br

un

ei

Da

ru

ss

al

am

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Other wastes

Plastic

Source: World Bank, 2018.
Sales /
ExportOnly five countries in ASEAN—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—have
data for “waste treatment and de-pollution” (EBOPS 2010 (10.3.2.1)) for selected years (tables 12 and13). While data scarcity poses challenges to fully capturing the volume of trade in Mode 1 and Mode2, certain services, such as plastic waste trade, have been on the rise, in particular after the Chinese
import restrictions on plastic waste from abroad (tables 10 and 11). The result of the Chinese ban is
an estimated 111 million metric tons of displaced plastic waste by 2030 (Brooks et al., 2018).
Export to the world. The most recently available data (table 13) indicate that the ASEAN countries are
not yet exporting environmental services (waste treatment and de-pollution) at a significant scale. In
2010, Indonesia was the largest exporter among ASEAN countries, exporting waste treatment andde-pollution services valued at $6 million. Singapore and Thailand exported $1.3 million and $0.7
million, respectively. In all ASEAN countries where statistical data are available, waste treatment
and de-pollution accounted for less than 0.01 per cent of all service exports and less than 0.001 percent of total exports of goods and services in 2010.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

31Import from the world. The import of waste treatment and de-pollution services was 10 times larger
than exports at $68.3 million, led by imports into Indonesia (table 12). In 2010, Indonesia imported$67 million worth of waste treatment and de-pollution services from the world, accounting for 0.3 percent of total import of services and 0.05 per cent of total import of goods and services. Singapore
imported $1.3 million in 2010, accounting for 0.001 per cent of total services import and 0.0003 percent of total goods and services import. While available information is rather limited, the share ofwaste treatment and de-pollution services is insignificant for both total imports of services and total
imports of goods and services in ASEAN countries.

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

32

Table 12. Import of waste treatment and depollution services and its share in total importsof services and in goods and services, 2005–2010 (Millions of dollars and per cent)Country

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Brunei Darussalam

..

..

..

..

..

..

Cambodia

..

..

..

..

..

..

Waste treatment and depollution export

Indonesia

80

31

2

1

102

67

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

..

..

Malaysia

0.9

..

..

..

..

..

Myanmar

..

..

..

..

..

..

Philippines

1.1

0.8

0.1

..

..

..

Singapore

..

..

..

1.4

..

1.3

Thailand

..

..

..

..

..

..

Viet Nam

0.4

..

..

..

..

..

ASEAN total

82.40

32.08

1.92

2.82

102.0068.33

Brunei Darussalam

..

..

..

..

..

..

Cambodia

..

..

..

..

..

..

Share in total exports of services

Indonesia

0.6%

0.27%

0.01%

0.009%

0.77%

0.40%

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

..

..

Malaysia

0.3%

..

..

..

..

..

Myanmar

..

..

..

..

..

..

Philippines

0.01%

0.007%

0.001%..

..

..

Singapore

..

..

..

0.002%..

0.001%

..

..

..

..

..

Viet Nam

0.009%

..

..

..

..

..

ASEAN total

0.07%

0.024%

0.001%

0.0015%0.058%

0.032%

..

..

..

..

..

Thailand

Share in total exports of goods and services
Brunei Darussalam..

Cambodia

..

..

..

..

..

..

Indonesia

0.08%

0.029%

0.001%

0.0010%0.081%

0.04%

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

..

..

Malaysia

0.0005%

..

..

..

..

..

Myanmar

..

..

..

..

..

..

Philippines

0.003%

0.0018%0.0003%

..

..

..

Singapore

..

..

..

0.0003%..

0.0003%Thailand

..

..

..

..

..

..

Viet Nam

0.001%

..

..

..

..

..

ASEAN total

0.012%

0.004%

0.0002%0.0003%0.012%

0.006%

Source: AJC, based on World Bank and UNCTAD data.
Waste treatment and depollution export : worldbank (https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/trade-services-database)Total Export of Services: UNCTAD Stat
Total Exports of goods and services: UNCTAD StatPA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

33

Table 13. Export of waste treatment and depollution services and its share in total exportsof services and in goods and services, 2005–2010 (Millions of dollars and per cent)Country

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Waste treatment and depollution import
Brunei Darussalam

..

..

..

..

..

..

Cambodia

..

..

..

..

..

..

Indonesia

9.1

4.9

3.1

0.3

6.3

6.0

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

..

..

Malaysia

0.8

..

..

..

..

..

Myanmar

..

..

..

..

..

..

Philippines

1.1

0.8

0.1

..

..

..

Singapore

..

..

..

0.5

1.4

1.3

Thailand

0.3

..

..

..

..

0.7

Viet Nam

..

..

..

..

..

..

ASEAN total

11.36

5.61

3.21

0.76

7.72

8.06

Brunei Darussalam

..

..

..

..

..

..

Cambodia

..

..

..

..

..

..

Share in total import of services

Indonesia

0.04%

0.02%

0.01%

0.001%

0.03%

0.02%

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

..

..

Malaysia

0.004%

..

..

..

..

..

Myanmar

..

..

..

..

..

..

Philippines

0.02%

0.01%

0.002%..

..

..

Singapore

..

..

..

0.0005%0.002%

0.001%

Thailand

0.001%

..

..

..

..

0.002%

Viet Nam

..

..

..

..

..

..

ASEAN total

0.01%

0.00%

0.002%

0.000%

0.00%

0.00%

..

..

..

..

..

Share in total import of goods and services
Brunei Darussalam..

Cambodia

..

..

..

..

..

..

Indonesia

0.01%

0.01%

0.003%

0.000%

0.0%

0.00%

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

..

..

Malaysia

0.0006%

..

..

..

..

..

Myanmar

..

..

..

..

..

..

Philippines

0.003%

0.002%

0.0003%

..

..

..

Singapore

..

..

..

0.0001%0.0004%0.0003%Thailand

0.0003%

..

..

..

..

0.0004%

Viet Nam

..

..

..

..

..

..

ASEAN total

0.00%

0.001%

0.0004%0.0001%0.00%

0.001%

Source: AJC, based on World Bank and UNCTAD data.
Waste treatment and depollution export : worldbank (https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/trade-services-database)Total Export of Services: UNCTAD Stat
Total Exports of goods and services: UNCTAD Stat

34

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

3. Mode 3: Commercial Presence
Establishment of commercial presence (Mode 3) is the predominant mode of supply in environmental
services because many of them, such as sewage services and refuse disposal services, areinfrastructure dependent and require a continuous and long-term local presence (WTO, 2010).
Examples of Mode 3 of environmental services include• Waste management company in country A establishes a subsidiary office in country B• Engineering firm of country A establishes a subsidiary in country B to provide environmental
design and consulting services to local clients.
Commercial presence could ensure additional investment in and transmission of technology
and know-how to the recipient countries. For instance, local firms in developing countries often
seek partnerships with more established international firms to acquire industry knowledge andexperience (WTO, 2010).
Table 14 shows the estimated sales of environmental services through commercial presence.25
Singapore and Thailand have the largest numbers of foreign entities, followed by Malaysia andViet Nam. The estimated sales of the foreign entities in ASEAN are at least $1,400 million in 2016,of which more than half is from the foreign entities based in Singapore. Foreign entity sales inThailand are reported to be $129 million, although this is likely an underestimate because half ofthe foreign affiliates in that country did not reveal their sales data. Foreign affiliate sales in Malaysia
are estimated to be $470 million. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia and Lao PDR were not included in
the sources used.
The presence of ASEAN entities providing environmental services abroad is much smaller than thenumber of foreign entities operating in ASEAN, only 19 compared with 137 foreign entities in ASEAN.
Out of the 19 ASEAN companies identified, nine were based in Singapore. The estimated sales of
ASEAN entities abroad were $383 million, of which Singaporean companies accounted for 90 per
cent or $350 million.
Table 15 shows the amount of investment flows to environmental services in ASEAN. According to
UNCTAD’s FDI and mergers and acquisitions data, 74 investment cases were identified in ASEAN
between 2003 and 2017, with a total estimated investment value of $1.5 billion. Although the list
may not be exhaustive, it shows that Singapore received the largest amount of investment—27
investment projects worth $948 million—followed by Malaysia, Viet Nam and Thailand. Out of the
74 investment cases, 27 per cent was investments in solid waste management services and 19 percent was investments in wastewater treatment/sewage services (figure 5). In terms of investment
from ASEAN, 59 investment cases were identified with a value of $1.1 billion. Singapore led outward
investment from ASEAN to the world, with 39 investment cases worth $856 million (table 15). Appendix
A tables (1) and (2) provide concrete examples of investment through Greenfield and mergers andacquisitions in the areas of waste management services and water and sewage system services.

25

Data were compiled from various sources, including Toyo Keizai Shimposha’s database for Japanese affiliates
in ASEAN and Orbis data. AJC identified foreign affiliates in each AMS that engage in one of the subcategories
of environmental services (i.e., waste management services, sewage/wastewater management services andsanitation services) and summarised the sales data. Sales data are significantly underestimated because almost
half of companies identified did not provide sales data.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

35

Table 14. Mode 3: Estimated sales of environmental services through foreign presence, 2016a(Millions of dollars)

Receipt from abroad

Supply to the world

Number of
foreign entities

Estimatedsalesb

Number of
ASEAN entities
abroadEstimatedsalesbBrunei Darussalam

..

..

..

..

Cambodia

..

..

..

..

Indonesia

6

7 [4]

1

.. [1]Country

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

Malaysia18471 [3]6

6 [2]Myanmar1.. [1]..

..

Philippines

877 [1]..

..

Singapore

50

716 [20]9350 [3]Thailand42

129 [22]2

5

Viet Nam

12

2 [10]

1

22

ASEAN total

137

1 403 [61]19383 [6]

Source: AJC, based on data from Toyo Keizai Shimposha, UNCTAD, and Orbis.
aData of the most recent available year was used for those companies for which 2016 sales are not available.
b
Figures in parentheses indicate the number of affiliates for which sales cannot be estimated.

Table 15. Investment ﬂows to environmental services in ASEAN, 2003–2017(Millions of dollars)

Investment to ASEANCountry

Numberof ASEAN
companiesthat received
investment

Investment from ASEAN

Estimatedinvestment
amounta

Numberof ASEAN
companies thatinvested abroad

Estimatedinvestment
amounta

Brunei Darussalam

..

..

..

..

Cambodia1.. [1]..

..

Indonesia

6

14 [1]

20,1 [1]

Lao PDR

..

..

..

..

Malaysia

17

16 [9]

14

169 [3]Myanmar1.. [1]..

..

Philippines

..

..

..

..

Singapore27

948 [8]39856 [5]Thailand

10

8 [7]

3

32

Viet Nam

12535 [7]

1

ASEAN total

74

1 521

59

Source: AJC, based on data from UNCTAD, Thomson Reuters, Greenfield, M&A.
Note: Investment amount is underestimated because the sources do not cover all investment projects.
aFigures in parentheses indicate the number of affiliates for which investment amount was not available.

.. [1]1 058

36

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Figure 5. Type of environmental services which received investment from the world, 2017
(Per cent)Wastewater treatment/sewage services

19

23

Waste management services
Building cleaning and maintenance services
Wastewater and solid waste management services
Unspecified

27

23

Other
3

5

Source: AJC, based on data from UNCTAD and Thomson Reuters.

Japanese companies are actively exploring market opportunities in ASEAN to export environmental
services, particularly in the areas of wastewater management and solid waste management. These
sectors are also listed as priority sectors in the ASEAN-Japan Environmental Cooperation Initiative
introduced in 2017 (box 4). According to Toyo Keizai Shimposha and Orbis, 63 Japanese companies
reportedly operated environmental services in ASEAN in 2017, mainly concentrated in Thailand, Viet
Nam and Singapore (figure 6).
Investment from Japanese companies is concentrated on water treatment systems, which received
60 per cent of Japanese investment in 2017. Water treatment systems included wastewater
management and the production and maintenance of water treatment equipment. Twenty-one
per cent of Japanese investment went into solid waste management, including the treatment of
hazardous waste, 5 per cent went to building cleaning and maintenance services, followed by 2 percent into air treatment services (figure 7).

Figure 6. Number of Japanese companies operating environmental services in ASEAN, 2017

30

26

25
20
15

am
N
et
Vi

la
nd
ai
Th

e
or
ap
ng

m

pi
lip
Ph
i

ya
n

Source: AJC, based on data from Toyo Keizai Shimposha and Orbis.

ne
s

0

ar

a
al
ay

si

R
M

PD
La
o

si
ne

1

Si

3

0

a

0

In
do

0

Br
un
ei
Da
ru
ss
al
am
Ca
m
bo
di
a

0

6

M

10
5

15

12

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

Figure 7. Types of environmental services that Japan invested in, 2017 (Per cent)

1
2

11

Water treatment system
Waste management

5

Building cleaning and maintenance services
Waste and wastewater management

2160

Air treatment system
Other

Source: AJC, based on data from Toyo Keizai Shimposha and Orbis.

Box 4. ASEAN-Japan Environmental Cooperation Initiative
At the 15th ASEAN+3 Environment Ministers Meeting held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Darussalam, on 13 September 2017, Japan proposed a new initiative called the “ASEAN-Japan
Environmental Cooperation Initiative”, to strengthen cooperation between Japan and ASEAN
to achieve sustainable development. The Initiative strongly emphasized areas such as climatechange, water management, biodiversity conservation, chemical pollution management,
wastewater management, quality environmental infrastructure development for sustainable cities
and cooperation in SDGs, including disseminating high-quality infrastructure from Japan.
Under the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue on Environmental Cooperation framework, several initiatives/
activities on environment have been implemented, including• Support to the ASEAN SDGs Frontrunner Cities Programme funded by the Japan-ASEAN
Integration Fund, the ASEAN-Japan Climate Change Action Agenda, and the ASEAN-Japan
Energy Efficiency Partnership• Promotion of collaborative research with the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East
Asia in the areas of circular economy and establishment of the Regional Knowledge Centre forMarine Plastic Debris• Promotion of bilateral cooperation with ASEAN countries based on the Basic Strategy of thePromotion of Environmental Infrastructure.
Between 2020 and 2022, Japan plans to mobilise $3 billion from the public and private sectors,
including $1.2 billion loans and investments for ASEAN through JICA (Mission of Japan to
ASEAN 2020).26

26

https://www.asean.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/pr20_0114en.html.

37

38

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

4. Mode 4: Presence of Natural Persons
The temporary movement of natural persons (Mode 4) is relevant to environmental services:
especially intra-corporate transferees appear to be of particular significance as firms must be able
to send managers or technicians with specialised skills abroad when they operate through affiliates(WTO, 2010). Mode 4 is needed as consultancy and engineering services companies increasingly
requires physical movement of consultants and engineers. However, data on the movement of
natural persons related to environmental services is non-existent and so capturing its volume is notpossible. An example of Mode 4 of environmental services include an environmental consultant ofcountry A travels to country B to perform an initial assessment of a remediation site.

III. TRADE AGREEMENTS AND REGULATIONSAMONG AND IN THE ASEAN MEMBER STATESAs with other services, the main types of trade liberalisation in environmental services areservice market access and national treatment. As Modes 3 and 4 are the main forms for providing
environmental services, barriers such as investment restrictions or restrictions on the movementof service providers could likely impede service flows in these two modes (Jacob and Møller, 2017;
Steenblik and Geloso Grosso, 2011). The 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) report on
the Survey of Regulatory Measures in Environmental Services in 21 APEC economies identified morethan 195 measures on environmental services under CPC94. Licensing and approval procedures
are the most prevalent regulatory measures in most countries, particularly as these processes canbe discretionary in some countries. Of the environmental services, waste treatment and disposal
services are the most highly regulated (APEC Policy Support Unit, 2016). Table 16 lists common
restrictions on environmental services in Modes 3 and 4.
Important barriers to Mode 4 include limitations on the qualification and licensing of foreign
professionals, controls on employing or hiring of foreign workers and temporary entry requirements forbusinesspersons. Control on workers (for both service providers and providers of environmental services)
is another common type of regulatory measure countries place on trade in environmental services.

Table 16. Restrictions on environmental services (particularly affecting Modes 3 and 4)
Mode 3: Commercial presence

Mode 4: Presence of natural persons

Restrictions on the legal form of companies

Nationality or residency requirements for accreditationof certain types of services

Economic needs test for the establishment of acommercial presence
Foreign equity limits
Restrictions on the acquisition of land and real estate

Limited recognition of third-country diplomas required
to practice regulated professional services
Costly and time-consuming visa applications

Limited eligibility for subsidies, including tax benefits

Labour market tests

Public monopolies restricting entry of private service
providers

Limitations on the duration of stay of foreign providers
Professional qualification exams

Government procurement favouring local suppliers

Controls on workers

Investment screening procedures
Local content requirements
Sources: Sauvage and Timiliotis (2017); APEC Policy Support Unit (2016, Table 1).

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

39This section examines the status of liberalisation of environmental services in ASEAN, using the“Hoekman Index” (definition follows) to measure commitment to liberalisation for environmental
services under the AFAS 10th package, which was agreed during the ASEAN Economic Ministers
Meeting in August 2018 and signed in 2020.
Hoekman (1995) proposes an indexation method for measuring the GATS-style degree of commitmentin the services sector. This method assigns values to eight cells (four modes with two aspects—
market access (MA) or national treatment (NT)—each) as follows. First assign the value 1 when the
sector at issue is “fully liberalised”; 0.5 when “limited (but bound)”; 0 when “unbound” (government
has not committed to liberalise) by subsector, by mode and by aspect (MA or NT). Then take thesimple average for aggregation and calculate the average value by services sector and by country.27
The higher the resulting number, the more liberal the country’s service trade commitments are
relative to the free trade agreement (FTA) members. Using the database constructed for this study,
the Hoekman Index is derived for all 155 subsectors (out of which four subsectors are related
to environmental services). Then the simple average at the level of the 11 sectors (1 sector forenvironment services) can be calculated. The Hoekman Index takes the value between 0 and 1, with
0 referring to the most restricted status, while 1 being the most open situation.
Table 17 shows Hoekman Index calculations for environmental services (see Appendix B for
ASEAN member states’ specific commitment tables under the AFAS 10th package). Overall, theenvironmental services are well committed to trade liberalisation. By mode, Mode 1 and Mode 2
are more deeply committed than Mode 3 (Mode 4 is not subject to negotiation under AFAS). Two
countries (Cambodia and Lao PDR) committed to full liberalisation for all four modes with varying
degrees for other countries from 0.54 to 0.92 (table 17).

27

This simple but objective indexation method applies a “digital” (i.e., discrete points of 0, 1, or 0.5) treatment tosometimes ambiguous legal texts. Based on the “law of large numbers”, aggregation of these digitised figures is
expected to reflect some degree of service trade liberalisation.

0.75

0.92

0.92

Mode3

Average

Average of all subsectors and modes

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Cambodia

0.83

0.83

0.5

1.00

1.00

0.83

0.5

1.00

1.00

0.83

0.5

1.00

1.00

0.83

0.5

1.00

1.00

Indonesia

Source: AJC, calculated from the specific commitment tables under the AFAS 10th package.

1.00

Mode2

9409

1.00

Mode1

06.D.
Other

0.92

1.00

Mode1

Average

0.92

Average

0.75

9403

06.C.
Sanitationand Similar
Services

0.75

Mode3

1.00

Mode1

1.00

0.92

Average

Mode2

0.75

Mode3

Mode3

9402

06.B.
RefuseDisposal
Services

1.00

Mode2

1.00

Mode1

1.00

9401

06.A.
SewageServices

Brunei
Darussalam

Mode

Mode2

CPC code

Subsector

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

Lao PDR

0.85

0.92

0.75

1.00

1.00

0.67

0

1.00

1.00

0.92

0.75

1.00

1.00

0.92

0.75

1.00

1.00

Malaysia

0.88

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.83

0.5

1.00

1.00

0.83

0.5

1.00

1.00

0.83

0.5

1.00

1.00

Myanmar

Table 17. Hoekman Index by ASEAN member state for environmental services (under the AFAS 10th package)

0.79

0.92

0.75

1.00

1.00

0.58

0.75

1.00

0

0.92

0.75

1.00

1.00

0.75

0.75

1.00

0.5

Philippines

0.54

0.75

0.75

1.00

0.5

0.67

1.00

1.00

0

0.75

0.75

1.00

0.5

0.00

0

0

0

Singapore

0.67

0.75

0.75

1.00

0.5

0.58

0.75

1.00

0

0.75

0.75

1.00

0.5

0.58

0.75

1.00

0

Thailand

0.92

0.83

0.75

1.00

0.75

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

0.92

1.00

1.00

0.75

0.92

1.00

1.00

0.75

Viet Nam

40

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

41However, some “unbound” commitments have prudential reasons, e.g., supply of services in Mode 1
might be technically infeasible. This paper also recognises the difference between no commitment(i.e., unbound) and no commitment technically feasible (i.e., unbound*) as Appendix B indicates.28
Aside from this, the environmental services are well committed.
Some observations by country follow.
Brunei Darussalam: The index value overall is rather high (0.92). In Mode 3, a joint venture
requirement with the upper foreign participation limit of 70 per cent applies; as a majority
ownership (70 per cent) by foreign suppliers is allowed, Brunei’s degree of liberalisation inthis sector is rather high.
Cambodia: All subsectors are fully liberalised (the index value is 1.0), implying the willingness of
Cambodia to promote trade in this sector.
Indonesia: Commitments are high on the whole (with the index value of 0.83). In Mode 3, therequirement of joint venture, upper limits on foreign equity participation (70 per cent), andqualification and registration requirements apply.
Lao PDR: Like Cambodia, all subsectors are fully liberalised (the index value is 1.0), implying thewillingness of the Lao PDR to promote trade in this sector.
Malaysia: The index value is 0.85. Locally incorporated joint venture and licence requirements apply,
possibly reflecting the country’s promotion of this sector under the collaboration of domestic
and foreign suppliers.
Myanmar: Commitments are high overall (with the index value of 0.88). Some performancerequirements apply, implying the policy intention to promote this sector through inward
foreign investment.
Philippines: The overall index value is 0.79. Joint venture requirements and upper limits on
foreign equity participation apply, implying the presence of potential domestic suppliers ofenvironmental services.
Singapore: The overall index value is 0.54; sewage services are unbound because this subsector isdeemed to be a basic social infrastructure. Upper limits on foreign equity participation apply
elsewhere, implying the presence of well-established domestic suppliers.
Thailand: The overall index value is 0.67. “Unbound because of technical infeasibility” in Mode 1 is
the main reason for this value; otherwise, the sector is rather open.
Viet Nam: The overall liberalisation degree is high (0.92), second only to Cambodia and to Lao PDR
and the same as Brunei Darussalam. “Other environmental protection services” is the least
liberalised subsector in environmental services.

28

No commitment (i.e., unbound) and no commitment technically feasible (i.e., unbound*) differ. A country thatspecifies unbound in its commitment is free in a given sector and mode of supply to introduce or maintain measuresinconsistent with market access or national treatment. The advancement of digital technologies is expected toenhance the degree of technical feasibility. For further reference, see Guidelines for the Scheduling of SpecificCommitments (WTO Document S/L 92, dated 28 March 2001).

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Implications of Shifting from Positive Listing to Negative Listing—from AFAS to ATISA.
Liberalisation of trade in services has implications that transcend national boundaries and thecompetitive environment. Liberalisation of trade in services in ASEAN has thus far advanced under
AFAS. Under AFAS, liberalisation measures have been expanded in a form called a “package” foreach round of negotiation, and in 2018, the 10th package, which is the final stage, was signed.
In 2020, the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA) to strengthen AFAS was signed. Under
the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025, an ASEAN-wide “highly integrated
economy” is envisioned. Promotion of ATISA negotiations and legislation for further integration of
trade in environmental services is a crucial policy vehicle. With the transition from AFAS to ATISA,
the liberalisation method changes from positive listing to negative listing. While AFAS adopted
the “positive list method”, which clarifies the service subsectors for liberalisation in the form ofcommitment tables, ATISA, in contrast, adopts the “negative list method”, which, in the form ofreservation tables, lists service subsectors exempted from the obligation of trade liberalisation.
Both methods have pros and cons, but as economies advance and open their markets to foreigncompanies, shifting from the positive to the negative approach is a natural consequence. This isbecause, among other things, countries have fewer industries that prohibit investment from abroad
and both investors and host countries understand increasingly clearly the sectors in which foreigncompanies can invest, though this still carries cost implications for doing business (box 5).
In this connection, four ASEAN members—Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore and Viet Nam—
are signatories to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) (seeAppendix C). This appendix lists reserved subsectors for environmental services. As shown, few
areas are reserved, i.e., the market opening of environmental services seems to be high. This would
imply that under the proposed ATISA the degree of market opening would also be high to facilitate
trade in environmental services.
Box 5. Positive list vs. negative list: Implications for doing business in environmental services
The transition from AFAS (which takes the positive list style) to ATISA (negative list style) willaffect business activities by foreign suppliers. The negative list style basically enables higher
commitments; in this sense, the transition from AFAS to ATISA is a welcome situation for foreign
suppliers of environmental services. However, transparency may be lacking in the sense of“which subsector is covered by the reservation list”. For example, “hazardous waste” is rather
ambiguous, leading to lack of policy transparency (which is also true for the positive list style,because the phrase can also be used under the positive list style).
Introducing a negative list approach may also have some “hidden costs”: for example, while
no reservation may exist in a particular (environmental) sector, at the subnational or practicallevel, restrictive measures and/or fee payments (e.g., at the time of work permit application as
an environmental specialist or associated fees and related business costs of asking a judicial
scrivener for application by proxy) might apply.
As for the negative list approach, there can be a “current reservation” based on the current(existing) policy measures and there can also be a “future reservation (or reservation for the
future)”, for which no currently binding policy measure exists. This might lead to a wider-thannecessary government discretion, posing difficulties for foreign service suppliers. A frequently
used phrase in a future reservation is “(our country) reserves the right to adopt or maintain any
measures relating to (particular sectors)”.
…/

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

43Box 5. Positive list vs. negative list: Implications for doing business in environmental services(Concluded)

A performance requirement may also exist in terms of, e.g., technology transfer from investing
foreign firms to local firms in the same subfield, and sometimes what is meant by technology
transfer is unclear. Thus, securing policy transparency while avoiding undesirable government
discretion continues to be an issue even under the negative list style.

IV. IMPACTS OF LIBERALISATION AND
DEREGULATION OF ENVIRONMENTALSERVICES ON ECONOMYThis section addresses the impact of service trade liberalisation on the economy and on the qualityof environmental services. However narrowly environmental services are defined here following
the GATS classification, to discuss the impact of trade in environmental services, introducing aholistic view on the linkage between society and environment would be desirable. Figure 8 shows
the structure of society at large from environmental perspectives, which can help illustrate theimpact of liberalising trade in environmental services. This figure shows two human-initiatedeconomic processes, i.e., (i) endosomatic processes, which mean human body–related activities
including labour force that consume energy from the environment, and (ii) exosomatic processes,
meaning activities using outside-human devices. The loop of human activities can be described froma hierarchical perspective in terms of division of human control over short-term “efficiency” andlong-term “adaptability”. The human time and activities available to society can be allocated to threelevels: a higher “mental” level, the “human-body” level and a lower “material” level. The “mental”
level comprises activities symbolised as A in the figure that are needed to guarantee long-term
environmental adaptation. These activities provide society with new cultural identity, knowledge,
technology and human reproduction.
The “human-body” level (i.e., (i) endosomatic processes) comprises activities symbolised as B in the
figure that are needed to ensure everyday maintenance of the structure of human mass, in terms ofcontrolling matter and energy consumed by society. On the “material” level, C activities are needed
to guarantee efficiency improvement in the current society at the focus level. These activities provide
flows of inputs from the natural environment.
The loop generated by “exosomatic” (i.e., outside the human body) devices, that is, machinesthat are society’s capital assets, has two interfaces, one with humans and the other with theenvironment. In the former interface, machines or capital assets represent a cost for humans inthe sense of requiring human labour inputs, yet in return they provide necessary energy inputs
to society. In the latter interface, machines as capital assets withdraw energy from and dispose
wastes into the environment. Given a particular land area, the degree of machine-related activities
relative to the degree of ecological activities determines society’s environmental loading ratio(non-renewable energy use to renewable energy use). A higher environmental loading ratio hasa negative environmental impact; conversely, trade liberalisation allows a more efficient supply ofenvironmental services, which lowers the ratio and serves as a positive environmental impact.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

From an economic development perspective, continuously increasing ET and C, i.e., increasingenergy throughput while decreasing the use of energy for efficiency, would be desirable. Then there
are related social impacts of liberalising trade in environmental services at the exosomatic level (ii):liberalisation of trade in environmental services can increase FI, consisting of HH and SS. Also, tradeliberalisation could economize B&M, which relates energy inputs to manufacturing processes, andwill secure E&M, FS and ES. In terms of the GATS-based service classification that is the focus of
this report, “a. Sewage services” and “c. Sanitation and similar services” are related to B activities
in figure 8; “b. Refuse disposal services” is connected to “Wastes” and “d. Other services (e.g.,cleaning services of exhaust gases, noise abatement services, nature and landscape protection
services)” can be related to all the labels in figure 8, i.e., A,29 B and C activities and FI, B&M, E&M,
FS, ES, ET and wastes. In this sense, services trade liberalisation could contribute to reducing
environmental challenges. Sauvage and Timiliotis (2017) show that freer trade could reduce the costof environmental services, thus helping firms to access cheaper or more advanced technology to
mitigate environmental harm.
More specifically, Kirkpatrick (2006, p. 12) describes the positive impacts of liberalisation ofenvironmental services as follows:• Clean water and waste collection services delivered to more citizens, leading to healthier humanenvironments• Use of waste recycling to create alternative sources of energy• In-country presence of foreign firms creating opportunities for environmental management
education and training and skills transfer to other commercial sectors• Availability of more environmental technologies to address environmental problems more
appropriately, implying a potential move away from end-of-pipe solutions to preventive ones
• Reinvestment of a share of profits in research and development of new environmental technologies
and skills, environmental infrastructure upgrades and new environmental investments.
Further potential economic and development benefits include• Relief of pressure on government budgets, including at state and municipal levels. Savings may bereallocated to environmental policy, inspection and enforcement budgets; to other social services
or to the overall budget balance.
• The creation of skilled and unskilled jobs for local workers in design, construction and long-term
operation of facilities.
• The provision of water and waste management systems attracting foreign and local investment
to the community, bringing more jobs, stable economic growth and an increased local tax base.
• Local private sector partners extending their experience in large and/or much specialised projects
that are then exported to other countries with similar needs and operating conditions.
• BOT operations that revert to local ownership at a specified time and include significant
environmental resources and sources of jobs that continue into the future.
However, some potential negative impacts are• Potentially new or higher fees for consumers• Loss of employment within existing service providers• Loss of subsidies to existing monopoly utilities, which means that they are unable to compete withnew providers.

29

A activities (creative/mental/cultural activities) will be used at least partially as inputs for the next-period creationof exosomatic devices (i.e., new machines) in the form of “creative destruction” (i.e., the current exosomatic devices
must be scrapped); figure 8 is just a snapshot focusing on the current state.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

45Figure 8. Human society as an evolving environmental system

Activities A(i) Endosomatic process(A = Total human time – WS where
WS = B+C )Total human time

Activities C(Manufacturing)

Activities B(Services)

Relevant environmental
services subsector (GATS)a) Sewage
servicesc) sanitationand similar
services

Human mass
FI (for HH and SS)(ii) Exosomatic process
B&M

Useful energy
E&M
FS
ES

d) other services(e.g. cleaning
services of
exhaust gases,
noise abatement
services, natureand landscapeprotection
services)

Mass of exosomatic(outside human body) devices

ET

WastesLand area

Environmental loading ratiob) Refusedisposal
services

Biophysical processes

Source: Adapted from Mayumi (2001), figure 9.4.
Note: Symbols in the figure denote the following concepts:
A: activities (creative/mental/cultural activities): Human activities necessary to guarantee long-term adaptability (orsustainability)
B: activities (services): Human activities that provide the system of controls over the network of matter and energy
consumed by society
C: activities (manufacturing): Human activities that guarantee efficiency in the set of everyday operations
FI: Fixed investment
SS: Service sector
HH: Household
B&M: Building and maintenanceE&M: Energy and mining
FS: Food security
ES: Environmental security
WS: Time for work supply
ET: Energy throughput (volume of energy use).

In their analysis of FTA negotiations in Asia, Fink and Molinuevo (2007) find that while interest in thefields of construction and tourism is high, negotiation results are few in the fields of environment,
health, transport and finance. Generally speaking, among current ASEAN FTAs, Singapore makes
commitments at higher levels than the GATS (Mitchell and Rae, 2009).
The degree to which advancement in liberalising environmental services has contributed to theentry of overseas companies is difficult to quantify. Sasaki (2017) analysed the market trends forthe environmental services trade in APEC and showed that when it is freer the differences between
foreign and domestic companies tend to be narrower. This result indicates that opening markets tooverseas companies would increase social welfare.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Absent detailed numerical evidence, some anecdotes may be useful. In Thailand, for example,
deregulation of industrial waste disposal since 2001 has increased the number of firms operating inenvironmental services and the overall recycling rate (of used products), with the Board of Investment
applying a preferential tax rate to the relevant environmental firms.30 As for energy efficiency services,
the APEC Policy Support Unit describes the importance of introducing foreign technology (2017a)
in addressing renewable energy services (2017b) and taking up damage remediation services, bothof which indicate the positive impact of inviting foreign suppliers of environmental services (2017c).
Policy efforts by the ASEAN member states under the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also indicate the impact of liberalising environmental services onsocioeconomic activities, as evidenced by internationally binding commitments to reduce greenhousegases. Following are excerpts from these commitments by country, in the form of Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions of UNFCCC.31 Liberalisation of trade in environmental services, when
geared towards this goal, would produce positive socioeconomic impacts on country-level pledges(made in 2015 as internationally binding commitments in terms of environmental mitigation)32 as
highlighted in the following.
Brunei Darussalam: The country’s economy benefits from revenues from the extraction, refining
and export of its oil and gas reserves. Given that the energy sector is the dominant sector withrespect to gross domestic product (GDP) and greenhouse gas emissions generated, the country’s
first mitigation contribution primarily concerns actions within the energy sector, followed by theland transport sector and the forestry sector. Brunei Darussalam pledges to reduce total energy
consumption by 63 per cent by 2035 compared with business-as-usual (BAU) levels and to increase
the share of power generated by renewables to 10 per cent by 2035. The country also pledges toreduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from morning peak hour vehicle use by 40 per cent by 2035,
compared with BAU levels, and it pledges to increase total gazetted forest reserves to 55 per cent of
total land area, compared with the current 41 per cent coverage.
Cambodia: The country wishes to address climate change in terms of energy industries,
manufacturing industries, transport, other sectors and land use, land use change and forestry(LULUCF). Cambodia aims to reduce emissions 27 per cent below a BAU scenario by 2030, withan additional target to increase forest cover to 60 per cent of national land area by 2030. This isconditional upon international support. Commitment includes a section on adaptation.
Indonesia: The country focuses on agriculture, LULUCF, energy, industrial processes and productuse and waste disposal/management. Indonesia targets a 29 per cent reduction in emissions by2030, compared with BAU. Indonesia says it will increase its reduction goal to 41 per cent, conditionalon support from international cooperation. Commitment includes a section on adaptation.
Lao PDR: The country emphasises the greenhouse gas reduction impact arising from forestry,
renewable energy, rural electrification, transport services and the use of large-scale hydroelectricity.
Lao PDR commits to several policies and actions designed to reduce emissions, which it will needfinancial support to implement. Commitment includes a section on adaptation.

30
31

32

http://jsts.moo.jp/thaigakkai/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/thaigakkai-13-3-sasaki.pdf.
While UNFCCC mainly addresses greenhouse gases, it is considered to be a comprehensive policy framework forregulating society overall in terms of environmental conservation.
According to Carbon Brief (under the Paris Agreement), https://www.carbonbrief.org/paris-2015-tracking-countryclimate-pledges and https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/NDCStaging/Pages/All.aspx.

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47

Malaysia: The country focuses on energy, industrial processes, waste disposal/management,
agriculture and LULUCF. Malaysia intends to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions intensity of GDP
by 45 per cent by 2030 relative to the emissions intensity of GDP in 2005. Thirty-five per cent of
this reduction is unconditional, while 10 per cent is conditional upon receipt of climate finance,technology transfer and capacity building from developed countries.
Myanmar: Its focus is on the forestry sector, the energy sector, renewable energy (hydroelectric power
and rural electrification) and energy efficiency (industrial processes and cook stoves). Myanmar
presents several sectoral goals that include increasing hydropower capacity to 9.4 gigawatts by
2030, achieving rural electrification based on at least 30 per cent renewable sources and increasing
forested area to 30 per cent by 2030. Efforts to calculate and present a reliable estimate of current
emissions are part of the pledge. Commitment includes a section on adaptation.
Philippines: The country earmarks energy, transport, waste, forestry and industry sectors. The
Philippines aims to reduce emissions by about 70 per cent by 2030, relative to a BAU scenario,
on the condition of international support. Commitment includes sections on adaptation and loss
and damage. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Philippine government adopted a national
strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as part of its 2010 National
Framework Strategy on Climate Change and the 2011–2028 National Climate Change Action
Plan. The strategy defines activities that will slow deforestation and encourage afforestation andsustainable forest management (GIZ, n.d.).
Singapore: Energy efficiency is a key strategy for Singapore, and the country aims to produce goods
in an energy- and carbon-efficient manner. Singapore pledges a 36 per cent reduction in emission
intensity by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, with emissions peaking around 2030. Singapore
intends to achieve this without international market mechanisms, although the country will continue
to study their potential. Commitment contains information on adaptation activities.
Thailand: Its mitigation efforts primarily focus on the energy and transport sector. Thailand commits
to an unconditional 20 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, compared with BAU levels. This
could increase to 25 per cent, conditional upon the provision of international support. Commitment
includes section on adaptation.
Viet Nam: The country focuses on energy, industry, transport, agriculture, waste and the LULUCF
sectors. Viet Nam targets an 8 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, compared with a BAU
scenario. This could be increased to 25 per cent conditional upon international support. The country
also pledges to increase forest cover to 45 per cent. Commitment includes a section on adaptation.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

V. POLICY SUGGESTIONS
To maximise benefits and minimise negative impacts, ASEAN member states need policy measuresthat are based on the status quo of their environmental- and trade-related activities. This section
proposes recommendations and policy measures to promote trade in environmental services. These
services should be viewed from a much broader policy perspective for environmental sustainability
and thus in relation to climate change, regardless of the size of their contribution to climate change.
Waste management, which includes landfills and wastewater treatment, is projected to emit gases of
1.7 gigatons of CO2 equivalents (GtCO2) globally in 2030 with a mitigation potential of 1.5 GtCO2 if therequired investment is made (UNCTAD, 2010, p. 109). While gas emissions from waste management
are small compared with other industries (e.g., 18.7 GtCO2 for the power sector), nearly 90 per centof gas emissions is mitigated in this services sector (only 54 per cent for power).

General Policy Recommendations
While rich in natural resources including food and energy, the ASEAN region faces environmental
degradation due to increased population and rapid economic development, among other factors.33
These changes have also led to increased consumption of resources and generation of wastes,
resulting in unsustainable development. Therefore, despite an abundance of natural resources, theASEAN region, like other regions, is facing an enormous challenge in keeping a delicate balance
between environmental sustainability and economic development. Recognising this situation,
ASEAN has had environmental cooperation for sustainable development and regional integration inplace since 1977. The framework for ASEAN-wide environmental cooperation is administered by the
ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint 2025, which envisions “an ASEAN Communitythat engages and benefits the peoples and is inclusive, sustainable, resilient, and dynamic”.
More specifically, the “sustainability” component of the ASCC Blueprint mentions the following four
items:
C.1. Conservation and Sustainable Management of Biodiversity and Natural Resources
C.2. Environmentally Sustainable Cities
C.3. Sustainable Climate
C.4. Sustainable Consumption and Production.34
A clear-cut conceptual framework can be proposed with a view to realising these objectives. Amongthe GATS-defined service sectors, the category of “environmental services” remains relatively underdefined. Based on generally accepted perceptions, environmentally friendly economic activities

33

34This paragraph is based on the website “ASEAN Cooperation on Environment”, https://environment.asean.org/
about-asean-and-the-environment/.
An ASEAN strategic plan on environment has been developed to break down the policy targets under the ASCC
Blueprint 2025 into more detailed workable actions. The following seven strategic priorities have been identified
under the plan:
Nature conservation and biodiversity
Coastal and marine environment
Water resources management
Environmentally sustainable cities
Climate change
Chemicals and waste
Environmental education and sustainable consumption and production.

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49

are those that aim for sustainable development without degrading the environment. A schematic
description follows.
Negative environmental harm, or impact, H (in a generic sense, including but not limited to theemission of carbon dioxide), is decomposable into three factors,
H = (H/R) × (R/GDP) × GDP
where
H = Negative environmental harm, or impacts (in general, including carbon dioxide emissions)
R = Resource use for economic activities
GDP = Gross domestic product.
Environmentally friendly economic activities can then be any type of economic activities contributing
to the increase of GDP and either (a) reduction of H/R (i.e., environmentally cleaner resource use) or(b) reduction of R/GDP (more efficient resource use), with a view to reducing the level of H overall.
Meanwhile, under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, all the ASEAN members havesubmitted “climate action plans” on a voluntary pledge basis (see the previous section). Under theParis Agreement, most importantly, technological improvements are viewed as the main source of
mitigation and adaptation strategies, in addition to price-based incentive provision.
Nordhaus (2016), however, mentions that environmental adaptation would be more important thanenvironmental mitigation because the pledge level by countries is not enough.35 Then multiple
activities for environmental mitigation as well as adaptation would be indispensable. This translates
into multimode service trade activities. Consultation on mitigation and adaptation strategies, forexample, could be sourced by truly “innovative” (Wankel and Stoner, 2008) foreign suppliers in Modes
1, 3 and 4.

Workable Policy Recommendations
As mentioned in Section IV, freer trade could reduce the cost of environmental services and help
firms access cheaper or more advanced technology to mitigate environmental harm. Focusing on
the aforementioned conceptual aspects, i.e., (a) reducing H/R and (b) reducing R/GDP, table 18
matches the previously mentioned four policy targets (C.1. through C.4.) under the ASCC Blueprint
2025 and the environmental services trade subsectors defined by WTO.
Because environmental adaptation seems to be more important than environmental mitigation due
to the currently limited degree of mitigation policy efforts (Nordhaus, 2016), full utilisation of all
four modes of trade in environmental services is imperative. For example, promoting informationand-communications-technology-based environmental mitigation/adaptation in Mode 1; receiving
relevant training in Mode 2; establishing innovative foreign firms, possibly under a joint ventureagreement with local firms in Mode 3 and enabling environmental specialists’ movement across theASEAN region in Mode 4 should be materialised under ATISA.

35

Unlike its predecessor the Kyoto Protocol, which set environmental targets with a legally binding force, the Paris
Agreement emphasises consensus building, thereby allowing voluntary and nationally determined targets (Aldyand Stavins, 2010; Stern, 2006; Sugiyama et al., 2010).

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Table 18. Matching of the targets under the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the environmental
services trade subsectors deﬁned by WTO
Targets under the ASEAN Community Vision 2025
C.1. Conservationand Sustainable
Managementof Biodiversity
and Natural
Resources

C.2. Environmentally
Sustainable
CitiesC.3. Sustainable
ClimateC.4. Sustainable
Consumption
and Production

Suggested policy(where applicable)

Suggested policy(where applicable)

Suggested policy(where applicable)

Suggested policy(where applicable)

a. Sewage services..

For reducing R/GDP:
introduction of smart
grids for sewage
management..

..

b. Refuse disposal
services

For reducing
R/GDP:
introduction of
garbage separation
policy in sightseeing
areas

..

..

For reducing H/R:
introduction of
biodegradable
packages for
consumption items
For reducing R/
GDP: facilitation ofusing “my-bags” forshopping

c. Sanitation andsimilar services..

..

For reducing H/R:
introduction ofcarbon tax..

d. Other services(e.g., cleaning
services of
exhaust gases,
noise abatement
services, natureand landscapeprotection services)..

..

For reducing
R/GDP:
introduction of
top-runner policy(dynamic targetingof reducing carbon
dependency, basedon the currently
most efficient
practices)

For reducing
R/GDP:
introduction ofenvironmentallyfriendly service
standards

Subsector definedby WTO

Source: AJC.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

51CONCLUSION: WHAT IS NEXT?
This section makes some future-oriented suggestions for the following four environmental
categories defined as “environmental services” under GATS:
a. Sewage services
b. Refuse disposal services
c. Sanitation and similar servicesd. Other services (e.g., cleaning services of exhaust gases, noise abatement services andnature and landscape protection services).
However, gaps exist between the aforementioned, narrowly defined GATS classification and more
broadly captured “environmental services”: variations exist in the definition of environmental
services. A set of policy recommendations on the need to develop possible approaches to delineating
commitments/activities that fall under environmental services vis-à-vis other related services could
be considered.36
To operationalise next-step policy efforts by ASEAN, policy objectives in connection to environmental
provision would need to be fine-tuned. In concrete terms, trade-related environmental provisions
under FTAs are crucial. Table 19 shows policy objectives of environmental provisions scored byperceived importance (based on George, 2014). As shown, “ensuring that environmental laws
are not relaxed” is the first policy objective listed, hence explicitly including this policy objective
in FTAs could lead to further trade liberalisation by attracting technologically advanced foreign
suppliers of environmental services defined by WTO (as indicated previously). Likewise, piecemeal
attempts to include the other policy objectives in the table could be beneficial for promoting trade inenvironmental services by technologically advanced foreign suppliers.
As mentioned previously, drastic environmental mitigation (i.e., controlling global warming fully)
is infeasible by policy options alone. This is due mainly to the public good nature of the global
environment and the global nature of environmental problems intensified by the increasing regional
and international connectivity of ASEAN economies: while all countries including the ASEAN member
states are affected, they also tend to avoid making drastic policy commitments. Focusing on adaptation
to emerging new environmental situations would be a feasible policy option, especially for smaller
countries, including many of ASEAN members, which have less control over the global environment.
ASEAN has engaged in trade negotiations not just among its member states but also with nonASEAN countries. Most notably, the 10 ASEAN members and Australia, Japan, New Zealand,
the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea have just concluded the Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).37 This plurilateral agreement includes provisions
for trade in environmental services.38 While a detailed analysis of the contents of RCEP takes timeand is beyond the scope of this paper, which centers on ASEAN members, a preliminary look at
the agreement finds that for environmental services (and the other service sectors), a combinationof positive listing and negative listing is applied, indicating a transition from the former (positive
listing) to the latter (negative listing). If the RCEP agreement is implemented fully, movement of

36

37
38

Environmental consultancy services, as part of GATS-defined “professional services” and part of “other businessservices”, can also fall under any one of the aforementioned categories (a–d) depending on the specific environmental
services at issue. In the actual commitment under FTAs, cross-referencing among relevant subsectors might beneeded.
RCEP was signed by the 15 (ASEAN 10 plus five) negotiating countries on 15 November 2020.
The text of RCEP is available at https://www.mofa.go.jp/ecm/ep/page24e_000272.html.

52

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

environmental firms and specialists across the ASEAN-plus five single market would be freer. Still,
an ASEAN-wide, piecemeal approach to implementing measures (as illustrated previously) for
increasing trade in environmental services continues to be needed. ASEAN member states undermultiple trade frameworks (including RCEP) should further promote environmental improvement,
be it mitigatory or adaptive in nature, leading to an increase of concrete business projects by green
foreign firms with funds and technology. ASEAN member states, in collaboration with multiple
stakeholders, including international organisations such as the ASEAN-Japan Centre, are expected
to strive to achieve the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.

Table 19. Policy objectives of environmental provisions scored by perceived importance
Policy Objective

ScorebEnsuring that environmental laws are not relaxed

19

Ensuring trade does not harm the environment

17

Promoting globally sustainable development

17

Effectively enforcing environmental legislation

16

Ensuring coherence between environmental and trade objectives

16

Ensuring a level playing field in environmental legislation

15

Promoting environmental cooperation

15

Mitigating transboundary/global environmental impacts

14

Promoting green growth11

Promoting implementation of multilateral environmental agreements

11

Promoting the use of environmental management tools

11

Promoting trade in environmental goods and services

10

Promoting better governance in partner economies

10

Collaborating on research

9

Minimising adverse effects of environmental legislation on trade

9

Using trade measures to achieve environmental objectives

9

Mitigating impacts via ex ante impact assessments

9aSource: George (2014), Table 3.
aConcerning multilateral environmental agreements, future trade agreements involving ASEAN could contain measures thatprohibit trade in certain species or products, or that allow countries to restrict trade in certain circumstances (https://www.wto.
org/english/tratop_e/envir_e/envir_neg_mea_e.htm).
bAccording to George (2014), OECD prepared a questionnaire regarding the main factors that influence the negotiation ofenvironmental provisions in regional trade agreements. Respondents (representatives from OECD member countries) were asked
to score the importance (i.e., choose from these three qualitative judgments: “high importance”, “medium importance” and “lowimportance”) of their own jurisdiction’s main objectives for the inclusion of environmental provisions in regional trade agreementsfrom the suggested list. In total, 10 responses representing OECD member countries were received. Then the score was calculated
as (no. of high responses × 2) + (no. of medium responses). The maximum score is 20, and the minimum score is 0. As the numberof responses is limited, the scoring serves an indicative purpose rather than being statistically definite and representative.

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

53

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Host ASEAN country

Investing country

Investor name

Type of investment

Investment
Capital shareamount (Million $) obtained (%)
24.2
100
..
100
3.92
100
2
100
1
100
9.7
100
9.7
100
5.3
100
100
..
75
..
30
40
100
..
5
35
14.3
100
..
100
114
39
40
45
36
100
13
51
2.4
100
4.6
100
365
59
74.5
100
286
23
74.5
100
2.9
100
4
15
74.5
100
8.2
100
2.9
100
74.5
100

2003 Malaysia
FranceVeolia Water
Greenfield
2003 Malaysia
Australia
Ecogen Energy
M&A
2005 Thailand
Malaysia
Tex Cycle (TCSB)
Greenfield
2006 Singapore
China
Tongfang (Tsinghua Tongfang)Greenfield
2006 Malaysia
Malaysia
UE Novo(Malaysia)Sdn Bhd
M&A
2007 Viet Nam
Korea, Republic of
Kbec
Greenfield
2007 Malaysia
United Kingdom
TWMA Group
Greenfield
2007 Viet Nam
United States
Asia Biogas
Greenfield
2007 Malaysia
Hong Kong, China
Paperbox Holdings Ltd
M&A
Thailand
ISCM Technology(Thailand)Co Ltd
M&A
2007 Thailanda
2008 Thailand
unspecified..
M&A
2009 Viet Nam
Korea, Republic of
Kbec
Greenfield
2009 Singapore
India
Majestic Asset Investments Corp
M&A
Singapore
IFA Accountancy Institute Ltd
M&A
2009 Malaysiab
2010 Singapore
Australia
University of New South Wales
Greenfield
Malaysia
Air Pollution Control Engineering Sdn Bhd
M&A
2010 Malaysiac
2011 Singapore
Singapored
KKR China Water Investment Holdings Ltd
M&A
2013 Singapore
Singapored
KKR China Water Investment Holdings Ltd
M&A
2014 Myanmar
Japan
Dowa Eco-System
Greenfield
2014 Singapore
Hong Kong, China
Sound(HK)Ltd
M&A
2015 Singapore
Austria
Loacker Recycling
Greenfield
2015 Singapore
Germany
Remex Mineralstoff
Greenfield
2015 Singapore
Cayman Islands
CKM (Cayman) Co Ltd
M&A
2016 Viet Nam
Japan
Kume Sekkei
Greenfield
China
China Reform Puissance Overseas GP LP
M&A
2016 Singaporee2017 Viet Nam
Japan
CAN Holdings
Greenfield
2018 Viet Nam
Switzerland
Sowareen Solutions
Greenfield
2018 Malaysia
United Kingdom
Serba Dinamik International Ltd
M&A
2019 Indonesia
Japan
Prasadha Pamunah Limbah Industri
Greenfield
2019 Malaysia
Myanmar
Recyglo
Greenfield
2019 Viet Nam
United Kingdom
Wiser Environment
Greenfield
2019 Singapore
United States
Stericycle
Greenfield
Source: UNCTAD data.
aOwner is in Malaysia. b Owner is in Singapore. c Owner is in UAE. d Ultimate acquiror is in the United States. e Owner is in the United States.

Year(1) Waste management services..
Conwaste Disposal Services Sdn Bhd..
..
Dataran Tenaga(M)Sdn Bhd..
..
..
Genting Sanyen Utilities & Services Sdn Bhd
Odyssey Technologies(TH)Co Ltd
Suvarnabhumi Environmental Care Co Ltd..
Dayen Environmental Ltd
Airchem Holdings Sdn Bhd..
Wet Air Sdn Bhd
United Envirotech Ltd
United Envirotech Ltd..
Sound Global Ltd..
..
United Envirotech Ltd..
CITIC Envirotech Ltd..
..
Green & Smart Holdings PLC
..
..
..
..

Acquired company (for M&A only)

APPENDIX A.
SELECTED FDI CASES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES IN ASEAN, 2003–2009

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S
57Viet Nam
Singapore
ThailandIndonesia
Viet Nam
Indonesia
Malaysia
Singapore
Viet Nam
ThailandSingapore
Singapore
Singapore
Viet Nam
Singapore
Viet Nam
Singapore
Singapore

Indonesia

2005
2007
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2009
2009
2009
2010
2010
2011
2011
2011
2012
2012

2012

2014
Singapore2014
Indonesia
2015
Viet Nam2015
Indonesia
2015
Thailand2015
Myanmar2016
Viet Nam
2016
Cambodia
2017
Viet Nam
2018
Singapore
2019
Malaysia
2019
Thailand2019
Viet Nam
2019
Singapore
Source: UNCTAD data.

Host ASEAN country

Year

Hong Kong, China
Singapore
United States
SingaporeJapan
Singapore
Korea, Republic ofThailand
China
United States
FranceMalaysia
Spain
South Africa

Japan

Czech Republic
United States
Belgium
Japan
Japan
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United States
Malaysia
United States
Malaysia
Hungary
United States
Japan
Netherlands
Korea, Republic of
Japan
Japan

Investing country(2) Water and sewage system services

Beijing Enterprises Water Group
ImpiroVietnam Waste Solutions
ImpiroTakada Corp
MIL 4 Ltd
HanwhaJWD InfoLogistics PCLYang Xiaodong
Gradiant Corporation
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies
Anurak Water Treatment Facilities
Acciona Agua
Reatile Group Proprietary Ltd

Nihon Suido Consultants Co Ltd

Omnipol Group
MarmonGlobal Water Engineering
KubotaMetawater
Adhya Tirta Batam (ATB)
HydroChem
MarmonSalcon Bhd
MTP HPPO Manufacturing
Synergy Heights Sdn Bhd
Organica Water
Insituform Technologies Inc
Metawater
PWN Technologies
Hanshin Engineering & Construction Co Ltd
Mitsubishi Rayon
Meiden Singapore

Investor nameGreenfield
M&A
Greenfield
M&A
M&A
M&A
Greenfield
M&A
M&A
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
M&A

M&A

Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
Greenfield
M&A
Greenfield
M&A
Greenfield
Greenfield
M&A
Greenfield
Greenfield

Type of investment

20.1
450
74.5
0.8
20.1
74.5
74.5
-

-

100
0
100
95
100
14
100
5
6
100
100
100
100
20

100

Investment
Capital shareamount (Million $) obtained (%)
24.2
100
50
100
0.05
100
9.7
100
9.7
100
6
100
0.34
100
20.59
100
9.7
100
33.11
100
49
5.3
100
1
100
195
100
20.1
100
31
10
1.9
100
8.117
100

Juwi Renewable Energies Pte Ltd

Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone Plc
Vneco1 Electricity Construction JSC

Contained Energy Indonesia PT
Kikuchi Industry (Thailand) Co Ltd
Apollo Towers Pte Ltd

Contained Energy Indonesia PT

PT DACREA Design & Engineering
Consultants

Petrovietnam Construction JSC (PVC)

Insitu Envirotech (SE Asia) Pte Ltd

Koastal Eco Industries Pte Ltd

Acquired company (for M&A only)

58

PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

PA P E R 3 T R A D E I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L S E R V I C E S

59

APPENDIX B.
SPECIFIC COMMITMENT TABLES FORENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES UNDER THE
AFAS 10TH PACKAGE
Brunei Darussalam
Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402)(1) None(2) None(3) Through a joint venture with foreign
equity participation not exceeding 70%(1) None(2) None(3) None

Other environmental services(1) None(2) None(3) Through a joint venture with foreign
equity participation not exceeding 70%(1) None(2) None(3) None

Sewage Services (CPC 9401)(1) None(2) None(3) Through a joint venture with foreign
equity participation not exceeding 70%(1) None(2) None(3) None

Sanitation and Similar Services (CPC 9403)(1) None(2) None(3) Through a joint venture with foreign
equity participation not exceeding 70%(1) None(2) None(3) None

Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

Sewage services (CPC 9401)
Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402)
Sanitation and similar services (CPC 9403)
Other services- Cleaning of exhaust gases (CPC 9404)- Noise abatement services (CPC 9405)- Nature and landscape protection services(CPC 9406)- Other environmental services not included
elsewhere (CPC 9409)(1) None(2) None(3) None(1) None(2) None(3) None

Source: AFAS 10th package.

Cambodia

Source: AFAS 10th package.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Indonesia
Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

A. Sewage services (CPC 9401) Wastewater
management(1) None(2) None(3) Joint venture with foreign equity
participation up to 70%(1) None(2) None(3) Subject to qualification and registration
requirement and procedure

B. Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402)
Solid waste disposal services, only for- Integrated hazardous waste treatment
facility services for oil sludge and waste
mercury treatment in a particular area.
The services provider must be equippedwith modern and sophisticated technology
and environmental safety. The product will
be used as a new material or energy power.
- In site hazardous waste treatment facility
services for the treatment of waste ofmining products and waste of fly ash andbottom ash of coal product.

(1) None(2) None(3) Joint venture with foreign equity
participation up to 70%(1) None(2) None(3) Subject to qualification and registration
requirement and procedure

C. Sanitation and similar services(CPC 9403) limited to public sanitation
facilities only

(1) None(2) None(3) Joint venture with foreign equity
participation up to 51%(1) None(2) None(3) Subject to qualification and registration
requirement and procedure

Sanitation and similar services (CPC 9403)
limited to hazardous and toxic substances
only(1) None(2) None(3) Joint venture with foreign equity
participation up to 70%(1) None(2) None(3) Subject to qualification and registration
requirement and procedure

D. Cleaning services of exhaust gases(CPC 9404)
Air pollution control(1) None(2) None(3) Joint venture with foreign equity
participation up to 70%(1) None(2) None(3) Subject to qualification and registration
requirement and procedure

Other environmental protection services(CPC 9409)
Limited to laboratory services forenvironment(laboratory that has the ability and authority
to test and examine the environmental
quality parameter
according to current environmental laws
and regulations)(1) None(2) None(3) Joint venture with foreign equity
participation up to 51%(1) None(2) None(3) Subject to qualification and registration
requirement and procedure

Source: AFAS 10th package.

Lao PDR
6. ENVIRONMENT SERVICES
The scope of commitments extended to services in Vientiane Capital only. Publicly funded services are excluded.
Subsector
Sewage services (CPC 9401)
Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402)
Sanitation and similar services (CPC 9403)
Cleaning of exhaust gases(part of CPC 9404)
Noise abatement services(part of CPC 9405)
Nature and landscape protection services(CPC 9406)
Source: AFAS 10th package.

Limitation on Market Access(1) None(2) None(3) None

Limitation on National Treatment(1) None(2) None(3) None

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61

Malaysia
Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

Sewage services (CPC 9401)
Covers only removal, treatment and disposalof industrial effluents(Only for services contracted by the private
sector. Does not include public works functions
owned and operated by federal, provincial,
district or municipalities or contracted out by
them.)(1) None(2) None(3) Only through a locally incorporated,joint venture with Malaysian individuals or
Malaysian controlled corporations or bothand aggregate foreign shareholding shallnot exceed 70 per cent(1) None(2) None(3) None

Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402*)
Covering private industrial waste management
services covering treatment and disposal
services(1) None(2) None(3) Only through approval of the National
Solid Waste Management Technical
Evaluation Committee and approved
licence from the National Solid Waste
Management Department; aggregate
foreign equity shall not exceed 51 per cent(1) None(2) None(3) None

Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402*)
Covering solid waste disposal services, only for- Integrated biomass treatment facility services.
- The services provider must be equipped withhigh technology specifically built for biomass
solid waste disposal services and fulfil allenvironmental safety requirements. The productwill be used as a new material for energy
purposes.

(1) None(2) None(3) Foreign equity shall not exceed 70 per
cent(1) None(2) None(3) None

Sanitation and similar services
Sweeping and snow removal services(CPC 94030)(1) None(2) None(3) Unbound(1) None(2) None(3) UnboundProtection of ambient air climate(CPC 9404—corresponds to cleaning servicesof exhaust gases)
Covers only services provided at industrial
premises to remove air pollutants, including
monitoring of mobile emissions andimplementation of control systems or reduction
programmes(Only for services contracted by the private
sector. Does not include public works functions
owned and operated by federal, state, district ormunicipal authorities or contracted out by them)(1) None(2) None(3) Only through a locally incorporated
joint venture corporation with Malaysian
individuals or Malaysian controlled
corporations or both and aggregate foreign
shareholdings shall not exceed 70 per cent(1) None(2) None(3) None

Noise abatement services (CPC 9405)
Covers only monitoring programmes andinstallation of noise reduction and screen in
residential, commercial and industrial premises(Only for services contracted by the private
sector. Does not include public works functions
owned and operated by federal, state, district ormunicipal authorities or contracted out by them)(1) None(2) None(3) Only through a locally incorporated
joint venture corporation with Malaysian
individuals or Malaysian controlled
corporations or both and aggregate foreign
shareholdings shall not exceed 51 per cent(1) None(2) None(3) NoneNature and landscape protection services
covering only contaminated soil clean-up andremediation(part of CPC 94060)(Only for services contracted by the private
sector. Does not include public works functions
owned and operated by federal, state, district ormunicipal authorities or contracted out by them)(1) None(2) None(3) Only through a locally incorporated
joint venture corporation with Malaysian
individuals or Malaysian controlled
corporations or both and aggregate foreign
shareholdings shall not exceed 51 per cent(1) None(2) None(3) None

Source: AFAS 10th package.
Notes: * after a CPC code means the sector is part of the wider service sector elsewhere indicated. ** after a CPC code means
the sector is part of the wider service sector indicated by the CPC code. Unbound* means unbound due to lack of technicalfeasibility.

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MyanmarSubsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

Sewage services (CPC 9401)(1) None(2) None(3) Commercial presence of foreign
suppliers and/or providers are permitted inaccordance with the Myanmar Companies
Law 2017, in effect from 1 August 2018
and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Investment Law (2016)
As stipulated in the Myanmar Investment
Law (2016), the investment may be carriedout in any of the following forms:(i) carrying out an investment by aforeigner with 100 per cent foreign
capital on the business permitted by theCommission;(ii) carrying out a joint venture between
a foreigner and a citizen or the relevant
government department and organisation;(iii) carrying out by any system contained in
the contract approved by both parties.

(1) None(2) None(3) a. Foreign service suppliers and/or providers must comply with existinglaws, rules and regulations concerninginvestment, taxation, immigration andlabour.
b. Foreign organisations and persons
are not allowed to own land in Myanmar.
However, land may be on long-term lease,depending on individual circumstances.

Refuse disposal service (CPC 9402)(1) None(2) None(3) Commercial presence of foreign
suppliers and/or providers are permitted inaccordance with the Myanmar Companies
Law 2017, in effect from 1 August 2018
and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Investment Law (2016).
As stipulated in the Myanmar Investment
Law (2016), the investment may be carriedout in any of the following forms:(i) carrying out an investment by aforeigner with 100 per cent foreign
capital on the business permitted by theCommission;(ii) carrying out a joint venture between
a foreigner and a citizen or the relevant
government department and organisation;(iii) carrying out by any system contained in
the contract approved by both parties.

(1) None(2) None(3) a. Foreign service suppliers and/or providers must comply with existinglaws, rules and regulations concerninginvestment, taxation, immigration andlabour.
b. Foreign service organisations andpersons are not allowed to own land in
Myanmar. However, land may be used onlong-term lease, depending on individual
circumstances.

Sanitation and similar services (CPC 9403)(1) None(2) None(3) As indicated in the horizontal
commitments(1) None(2) None(3) As indicated in the horizontal
commitments

Others:- Noise abatement services- Environmental consultancy- Cleaning of exhaust gases(1) None(2) None(3) None(1) None(2) None(3) None

Source: AFAS 10th package.

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63Philippines
Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

A. Sewerage services (CPC 9401)(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) For participation in public and/or
private sewerage services, up to 40 per
cent foreign equity participation is allowed.
For participation in public and/or private
sewerage services in Metro Manila, it issubject to negotiations and agreementwith concessionaires (i.e., Manila Water
and Maynilad) and approval/regulationby the Metropolitan Waterworks andSewerage System (MWSS). If theparties agree (MWSS and the twoconcessionaires), amendment of theConcession Agreement shall be made.
For areas outside Metro Manila, entry into
public and/or private sewerage services issubject to the following:a) Where local water districts (LWDs) exist,
participation or entry should be in the formof partnership or corporation that may
then enter into a BOT scheme or othersimilar schemes or forms of contractual
agreements/ arrangements with the
LWDs.
b) In the absence of existing LWDs, entry
should still take the form of partnershipor corporation; however, the contractual
agreements/arrangements that may beentered into will be with local government
unit/s concerned.

(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None

Sewage services (CPC 9401)
Sewage services limited to removal,
treatment and disposal of industrial
effluents (CPC 9401**)(1) None(2) None(3) Up to 70% foreign equity participationis allowed(1) None(2) None(3) None

Sewage services (CPC 9401)
Environmental consultancy services on
hazardous waste management and refuse
disposal(1) None(2) None(3) Up to 70% foreign equity participationis allowed(1) None(2) None(3) None

B. Refuse disposal services- Establishment of recycling center/facility
and treatment, storage and disposal facility
under the BOT scheme(CPC 94020**)(1) None(2) None(3) The limitations on foreign equity in thehorizontal section do not apply for projects
under the BOT scheme. However, a Special
Contractor’s Licence is required for foreigncompanies to undertake construction
activities.

(1) None(2) None(3) NoneC. Sanitation and similar services
Sanitation and similar services limited tohail-clearing services (CPC 9403**)(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) Up to 70 per cent foreign equity
participation is allowed(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) NoneD. Other
Cleaning services of exhaust gases for a
factory (CPC 9404)(1) None(2) None(3) Up to 70 per cent foreign equity
participation is allowed(1) None(2) None(3) None

Source: AFAS 10th package.
Notes: * after a CPC code means the sector is part of the wider service sector elsewhere indicated. ** after a CPC code means
the sector is part of the wider service sector indicated by the CPC code. Unbound* means unbound due to lack of technicalfeasibility.

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Singapore
Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

Refuse collection services except hazardous (1) Unbound, except for consulting
waste management (CPC 94020**)services.
(2) None.
(3) None, except the refuse collector must
be incorporated in Singapore. The numberof public waste collectors is limited by
the number of geographical sectors in
Singapore.

(1) Unbound, except for consulting services(2) None(3) None

Refuse disposal services except landfill
services and hazardous waste management(CPC 94020**)(1) Unbound, except for consulting services(2) None(3) None, except the company must be
incorporated in Singapore(1) Unbound, except for consulting services(2) None(3) None

Sanitation and similar services (CPC 9403)
Cleaning of exhaust gases (CPC 9404)
Noise abatement services (CPC 9405)(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None

Servicing of chemical toilets(1) None(2) None(3) Foreign equity participation allowable
up to a maximum of 70 per cent(1) None(2) None(3) None

Source: AFAS 10th package.
Notes: * after a CPC code means the sector is part of the wider service sector elsewhere indicated. ** after a CPC code means
the sector is part of the wider service sector indicated by the CPC code. Unbound* means unbound due to lack of technicalfeasibility.

Thailand
Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

A. Sewage services:
Environmental consultancy on sewage
system, refuse disposal, hazardous
waste management, air pollution andnoise management, sanitation and otherenvironmental management services (CPC9401)
Environmental protection andenvironmental abatement services (CPC9401)
Sewage services(including industrial wastewater treatment
system)(CPC 9401)(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) As indicated in 3.3 of the horizontal
section(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None

Sewage removal services usually provided
using equipment such as waste pipes,
sewers or drains (part of CPC 1.1: 94110)(1) None(2) None(3) As indicated in 3.1 of the horizontal
section(1) None(2) None(3) None

B. Refuse disposal services (including
hazardous waste management andincinerator)(CPC 9402)(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) As indicated in 3.3 of the horizontal
section(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None

B. Refuse disposal services:
Hazardous waste treatment and disposal
services(CPC Version 1.1: 94222)(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) As indicated in 3.1 of the horizontal
section(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) NoneC. Sanitation and similar services (CPC9403)

(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) As indicated in 3.3 of the horizontal
section(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None…/

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65(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) As indicated in 3.1 of the horizontal
section(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None(1) Unbound*
D. Other:(2) None- Cleaning services of exhaust gases(3) As indicated in 3.3 of the horizontal(including industrial emission abatement)(CPC 9404)
section- Noise abatement services (CPC 9405)- Nature and landscape protection services(CPC 9406)- Other environmental protection services(CPC 9409)(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) None- Marine environmental protection services (1) Unbound*(CPC Version 1.1: Part of 94900)(2) None(3) As indicated in 3.1 of the horizontal
section(1) Unbound*(2) None(3) NoneC. Sanitation and Similar Services:
Beach cleaning services
Drain unblocking services(CPC Version 1.1: part of 94390)

Source: AFAS 10th package.
Notes: * after a CPC code means the sector is part of the wider service sector elsewhere indicated. ** after a CPC code means
the sector is part of the wider service sector indicated by the CPC code. Unbound* means unbound due to lack of technicalfeasibility.

Viet Nam
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Access to certain geographic areas may be restricted for national security reasons
Subsector

Limitation on Market Access

Limitation on National Treatment

Sewage services (CPC 9401)(1) Unbound due to technical feasibility(except related consulting services)(2) None(3) None(1) None(2) None(3) None

Refuse disposal services (CPC 9402)(1) Unbound due to technical feasibility(except related consulting services)(2) None(3) None(1) None(2) None(3) None

Sanitation and similar services (CPC 9403)(1) None(2) None(3) None(1) None(2) None(3) NoneNature and landscape protection services(CPC 9406)(1) None(2) None(3) None(1) None(2) None(3) None

Other services- Cleaning services of exhaust gases (CPC
94040)- Noise abatement services (CPC 94050)(1) Unbound due to technical feasibility(except related consulting services)(2) None(3) None(1) None(2) None(3) None

Environmental impact assessment services(CPC 9409)(1) None(2) None(3) None, except that foreign ownershipis limited to 51 per cent until 11 January
2011. After that: None.

(1) None(2) None(3) None

Source: AFAS 10th package.

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

APPENDIX C.
NEGATIVE LIST COMMITMENTS UNDER
THE COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP) FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
A general note on Annexes I and II:
Annex I under CPTPP lists some existing restrictions on foreign service suppliers or investors. Eachparty has undertaken to ensure that it does not make any measure, as listed in this Annex, more
restrictive. If a party to CPTPP changes any of these measures to become more open to foreign
service suppliers and investors, that new measure will be automatically captured by the CPTPP,
which means it cannot be made more restrictive in the future. This is called the “ratchet mechanism”.
Annex II, however, lists areas where each party has reserved the right to impose new restrictions on
foreign service suppliers or investors.

(1) Brunei Darussalam
Annex I under CPTPP
Sector:Environmental Services
Obligations Concerned:
National Treatment (Article 9.4)
Performance Requirements (Article 9.10)
Local Presence (Article 10.6)
Measures:
Pollution Control Guidelines for Industrial Development of Brunei Darussalam Planning Guidelines
for Earthworks Development (Focus on Environmental Sensitive Area) 2009
Planning Guidelines and Standards for Industrial Development 2010
Environmental Impact Assessment Order 2011 (Draft)
Environmental Protection and Management Order 2012
Hazardous Waste (Control of Export, Import and Transit) Order 2011 (Draft)
Hazardous Waste (Control of Export, Import and Transit) Regulations (Draft)
Administrative Measures and Guidelines
Description:
Investment and Cross-Border Trade in Services
1. 
Foreign nationals and enterprises may not provide consultancy services on environmental
protection and management, waste management services, landscape design management andmaintenance services and janitorial services, roadside and cleaning works services, unless(a) They are established as an enterprise in Brunei Darussalam;(b) They register for either Certificate A or Certificate B, as a contractor or supplier; or(c) They comply with any requirement to transfer technology or other proprietary knowledge to persons
in Brunei Darussalam as long as such requirement to transfer technology or other proprietaryknowledge does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the owner of the technology or
proprietary knowledge and is not for the purposes of commercial exploitation by Brunei Darussalam.

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67

2. In the case of Certificate A, a foreign national or enterprise may not own equity shareholding otherthan what is prescribed in the following table, in any enterprise that applies to be registered as acontractor or supplier:
Table 20. Allowable equity shareholding by a foreign national or enterpriseClass

Project Threshold

Level of Foreign
Equity AllowedI

Up to BND 50 000

None

II

Exceeding BND 50 000 but not more than BND 250 000

None

III

Exceeding BND 250 000 but not more than BND 500 000

20 percent

IV

Exceeding BND 500 000 but not more than BND 1.5 million

50 percent

V

Exceeding BND 1.5 million but not more than BND 5 million

70 percent

VI

Exceeding BND 5 million

90 percent

Building Specialist and SupplierNo threshold

90 percent

Mechanical and Electrical
Specialist and SupplierNo threshold

90 percent

3. For greater certainty, Certificate A refers to certificates that are required for participating ingovernment and private projects, while Certificate B refers to certificates that are required forparticipating in private projects only.

Annex II under CPTPP
Not listed(2) Malaysia
Annex I under CPTPP
Not listed

Annex II under CPTPP
Sector: Sewage and Refuse Disposal
Sanitation and Other Environmental Protection Services
Obligations Concerned: National Treatment (Article 9.4)
Description: Investment
Malaysia reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measures relating to the collection, treatment
and disposal of hazardous waste (excluding carbon gases).
Existing Measures:
Environmental Quality Act 1974 [Act 127]

(3) Singapore
Annex I under CPTPP
Environmental Services
Sector: Sewage and Refuse Disposal, Sanitation and other Environmental Protection Services
Subsector: Waste management, including collection, disposal and treatment of hazardous waste
Industry Classification:
Obligations Concerned:
Market Access (Article 10.5)

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PROMOTING SERVICES TRADE IN ASEAN: SECOND PHASE (SOCIAL SERVICES) – MARCH 2021

Local Presence (Article 10.6)
Level of Government: Central
Measures: Environmental Public Health Act, Cap.95
Description: Cross-Border Trade in Services
Foreign service suppliers must be locally incorporated in Singapore.
The public waste collectors (PWCs) rendering services to domestic and trade premises are appointed
by public competitive tender. The number of PWCs is limited by the number of geographical sectors
in Singapore. For industrial and commercial waste, the market is open to any licenced general waste
collectors.

Annex II under CPTPP
Environmental Services
Sector: Sewage and Refuse Disposal, Sanitation and Other Environmental Protection Services
Subsector:
Wastewater management, including but not limited to collection, disposal and treatment of solid
waste and wastewaterIndustry Classification:
Obligations Concerned:
National Treatment (Article 9.4 and Article 10.3)
Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment (Article 9.5 and Article 10.4)
Performance Requirements (Article 9.10)
Senior Management and Boards of Directors (Article 9.11)
Market Access (Article 10.5)
Local Presence (Article 10.6)
Description:
Investment and Cross-Border Trade in Services
Singapore reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure affecting wastewater management,
including but not limited to the collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater.
Existing Measures:
Code of Practice on Sewerage and Sanitary Works Sewerage and Drainage Act, Cap. 294, 2001 Rev Ed(4) Viet Nam
Annex I under CPTPP
Not listed

Annex II under CPTPP
Environmental Services
Sewage Services (CPC 9401)
Insert new commitments as follows:
Mode 1: Unbound, except related consulting services.
Mode 2: None.
Sanitation and Similar Services (CPC 9403)
Insert new commitments as follows:
Mode 1: None.
Mode 2: None.
Mode 3: None.

ISBN 978-4-910293-25-7

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