(Image source from: rfa.org)

The Asia Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said at least 300 million people in the Asia-pacific region have no improved access to water.

"About 300 million people in the Asia and Pacific region do not have improved access to water and 1.7 billion lack access to basic sanitation," ADB President Takehiko Nakao said at the Asia Water 2018 forum in Manila.

According to ADB estimation, water demand in the Asia and Pacific region was poised to grow by over half by 2050, leaving up to 3.4 billion people facing water insecurity, Xinhua news agency reported.

Furthermore, the ADB said disaster-related losses in Asia totaled $87 billion in 2016, of which about 25 percent was connected to flooding. And over the past 20 years, Asia has incurred half of the estimated global economic cost of water-related disasters.

"Innovations and new technologies provide the means to help ADB developing member countries advance their water management including river basin management, flood control and water pollution and service delivery such as water supply, sanitation, and irrigation," said the ADB President.

Over 800 gathered on Tuesday at the ADB headquarters in Manila for the opening of the Asia Water Forum 2018, centering on "information, innovation and technology."

Participants included water and development professionals, government officials, and representatives from the private sector, civil society, academia, and the media.

The ADB said this year's forum featured over four days of a series of panels, leadership discussions, technical sessions and workshops.

Since its founding in 1966, the Manila-based bank said it has spent a total of $45.88 billion on water projects. ADB's active water sector operations amount to nearly $14 billion and this is growing - another $14 billion in water sector investments was planned for future, it said.

-Sowmya Sangam