Given the rising demand of recent years for pumps used for flood control and in the water supply business in Southeast Asia, Japan's EBARA CORPORATION ("EBARA"), a leading pump manufacturer, held a two-day seminar on "Pumps for flood control" at the Water Resources University and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The seminar wase held in the Vietnamese language and around 30 participants, including university lecturers and engineers, attended each day.
Because the land is flat, water drainage in Hanoi City is so slow that heavy rainfall has a considerable effect on civic life due to flooded roads across the city.
The seminar provided participants with measures against flooding in Japan and Bangkok, an introduction to drainage pumping stations and a basic plan for large-scale stations for drainage.
EBARA has continued deepening its mutual understanding mainly with Southeast Asian countries through technical guidance and other forms of international cooperation.
Since the launch of the EBARA Hatakeyama Memorial Fund in 1989, it has organized around 245 seminars at different locations in Southeast Asia, welcoming upward of 11,000 participants.
Within this year, EBARA is set to give seminars in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and other locations.
In Vietnam, at least 1,000 EBARA pumps are in operation, not only for water supply services and flood control but also for agriculture and sewerage.
In the wake of the great Hanoi flood of 2008, the EBARA pump delivered to the Yen So Pumping Station in South Hanoi continued to work for a week containing the damage.
EBARA will continue to contribute to the development of Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries not only by offering pumps and other products and services, but through technical seminars and other international cooperation activities.
