Islamabad (Zahid Yaqoob Khawaja)：Government of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provides grant aid of 510 million yen to provide smart water meters and related equipment to Water and Sanitation Agency, Faisalabad (WASA Faisalabad).

On May 14, 2025, in Islamabad, Government of Japan and JICA signed the Exchange of Notes (E/N) and the Grant Agreement(G/A) with Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the “Economic and Social Development Programme”.

In Faisalabad, the third most populous city in Pakistan, WASA Faisalabad is responsible for providing water services. However, the residents are unable to enjoy sufficient water services, and water is only available for about six hours a day. One of the reasons is that the water tariff is a flat rate system in which the water tariff does not change regardless of how much water customers use, which leads to customers wasting water. As a result, WASA Faisalabad’s water tariff revenue has not increased, making it impossible to renovate or expand facilities.

Through technical cooperations and other grant aid projects, Japan has been supporting WASA Faisalabad in expanding water supply for shifting from a flat rate system to a metering rate system in which water charges are based on the amount of water consumption through the installation of water meters to increase water revenues.

This programme will provide 8,400 smart water meters to WASA Faisalabad, promoting WASA Faisalabad’s shift to a metering rate system, establishing an efficient bill collection
system and water distribution system, and achieving digital transformation of water supply in Faisalabad.

This programme will contribute to improving water services in Faisalabad, and ultimately to improving the public health and living environment of citizens, and the realization of SDGs Goal 6 “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”

At the signing ceremony, Ambassador AKAMATSU stated, “We hope the water supply services in Faisalabad will further improve through this grant aid, and ultimately the public health and living environment will improve. Japan will continue to cooperate with Pakistan in the area of water.” Mr. Miyata, JICA Pakistan Chief Representative of JICA Pakistan Office stated, “We hope that the smart water meters will promote digital transformation (DX) of the water supply and improve water services in Faisalabad.”

Through this grant aid, Government of Japan and JICA will contribute to the supply of safe water in Pakistan.