Toespraak van Zijne Koninklijke Hoogheid de Prins van Oranje tijdens het staatsbezoek aan China over waterbeheer. Sjanghai, 15 april 1999, gesproken woord geldt.

The United Nations recently surveyed a group of leading thinkers from many disciplines on the most important issues facing mankind in the next century. The scarcity of freshwater ranked as the world's second most pressing concern, directly after population growth.

Water is the basis for life. Why, then, don't we treat water with the same reverence as we treat life with? Water is not a regular commodity. The Dublin principles tell us that water has an economic value and should be treated as an economic good. That sounds good, for a start. But water is more. Water also has a cultural value: look at the water festivals celebrated in China and all over the world. In short - it's a cliche, but it's also the simple truth: water is a natural heritage we should treasure.

A simple truth, and it's dawning in the minds of people all over the world. Recently, Canada, a country that is extremely richly endowed with water resources, has decided to treasure its heritage: it has prohibited all water exports. Apparently, the Canadians feel that water is something that cannot be simply sold and exported beyond their borders.

<<<<<<<<<<<< The crucial step is that we engage all stakeholders - that is, all of us - in an active dialogue to help develop a widely supported vision on how we can manage to deal with our water resources for the benefit of all, while maintaining the heritage for future generations. That is the challenge the World Commission on Water has taken up. I assure you that, in one way or another, all of you will have the opportunity to contribute to this evolving Vision.

Less than a year from now, on World Water Day in the year 2000, on the brink of the new millennium, the Netherlands government is hosting the 2nd World Water Forum in The Hague. At this forum the Vision and the Framework for action will be presented and discussed. At the same time the Netherlands Government will host a ministerial conference in order to obtain the necessary political commitment.

I invite you all to contribute to the Vision, inspired by the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead of us. Let's join our forces and beat the odds.

I wish you a very productive seminar.