The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and a United Nations body in Shanghai on Friday jointly called for efficient management of Asia's water resources and more investment in sustainable sanitation.

Both sides expected their statement to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation in Asia, according to the statement from the U.N. Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation and ADB.

One of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals, which were set in 2000 by the U.N. to reduce poverty and improve people's lives, was to halve the number of people in Asia without access to safe water and sanitation by 2015.

The two sides vowed to collaborate in establishing more water utility networks, financing of water and sanitation projects and other water-related areas.

The ADB pledged to double its investment in water to US$2 billion annually, and it had set up a fund to support water financing projects.

The U.N. body would help encourage Asian countries to grant more funds for ADB's water financing programs.

Statistics from China's Ministry of Water Resources show that 1.1 billion people globally have no sustainable access to safe potable water, about 700 million of them living in Asia with 300 million in China.

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2007)