Singapore firms score big with water tech deals

Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 30 Jun 09;

SINGAPORE is burnishing its reputation as a centre for water technology, with local firms bagging the lion's share of $2.2 billion worth of deals at a recently concluded international meeting here.

The deals, signed with several countries and companies worldwide, run the gamut from building entire desalination plants, or equipment such as pumping systems and pipe networks, to sharing expertise in areas such as membrane-based water treatment technologies.

The big winner at the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW), a forum that brought together government officials, industry experts and policymakers, was local firm Hyflux. The water treatment company signed an agreement to build two desalination plants in Libya in a deal worth close to $1.2 billion, according to analyst estimates.

Home-grown environmental specialist Dayen Environment was another winner: It signed two memorandums of understanding - worth $10 million - to provide, among other things, expertise in advanced waste water treatment methods.

The total value of deals signed at SIWW, which ended last Friday, eclipsed the figure of $367 million recorded during last year's inaugural Water Week.

It is a clear sign that many governments and private sector firms worldwide are interested in tapping Singapore's expertise in developing large-scale water reclamation projects, said SIWW managing director Michael Toh.

'Singapore is proving to be a key draw for water leaders and businesses, not just regionally, but around the world,' he said.

Although the $2.2 billion figure is a drop in the ocean when compared to the estimated worth of the worldwide water-related equipment and services market - US$463 billion (S$673 billion) by some analysts' reckoning - it marks a significant step for Singapore.

In 2004, the Republic set itself a target of taking 5 per cent of the global market by 2015, and the success of Water Week shows that it is well on its way to meeting it, said CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun.

'Singapore's targets tend to be relatively conservative, so this target could even be achieved earlier if we can build on the successes so far,' he said.

Dr Seetharam Kallidaikurichi, director of the Institute of Water Policy, a think-tank at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, noted that there is much room left to grow.

Developing countries such as China, India and the Philippines, which have huge business potential for investment, are still largely untapped.

India, for one, would be keen to tap Singapore's expertise to build water treatment plants that can supply clean drinking water in its large urban cities, said the governor of the country's Arunachal Pradesh state, General Joginder Singh.

He added: 'What India has to learn from Singapore is how science and technology can benefit water management and to get these practices going in our bigger cities.'

Newater, for example, is a significant breakthrough that Singapore made in reclaiming used water using advanced membrane technology, and today provides 15 per cent of its water needs. This is projected to double in three years' time.

Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng noted that current trends favour Singapore.

Countries worldwide, he said, are taking advantage of lower-priced commodities to increase investments that are 'long term and strategic' in nature. 'Resources that are essentially scarce like water are not going to be overtly impacted in the downturn,' he said.

SIWW recorded other successes, too.

The conference was attended by over 10,000 delegates from over 85 countries, surpassing last year's figure of 8,500.

Interest in next year's event has already gathered momentum: More than 20 per cent of the exhibition space set aside for companies to showcase new products and technologies has already been sold.

Some key deals

# Hyflux's joint venture to build two desalination plants in Libya. Although not officially confirmed, analysts estimate the deal at $1.2 billion.

# A $150 million R&D centre set up by the National University of Singapore and General Electric Water and Process Technologies that will look to reduce the cost of desalinating seawater and treating used water.

Water Week sees $2.2b of deals sealed
Teh Shi Ning, Business Times 30 Jun 09;

SOME $2.2 billion in water-related deals were signed and sealed at Singapore International Water Week 2009 - almost six times the value of deals closed at last year's event.

Key deals this year included the $150 million R&D centre opened by GE and the National University of Singapore last week, and Hyflux's multi-million dollar agreements to take on projects in Algeria and Libya.

More than 10,000 trade visitors, delegates and exhibitors from 85 countries and regions attended last week's SIWW, compared with 8,500 last year. Feedback has been positive all-round, the organisers said.

Jimmy Lau, managing director of Singapore Airshow & Events, which co-organised the SIWW, said: 'One of the ways you can tell a show is a good show is the continuous buzz on the show floor - and that's exactly what we saw at the Water Expo. Half an hour before the close of the show, hardly anyone had started to take down their displays.'

Michael Toh, managing director of SIWW and deputy director of industry development at PUB, said that the organisers positioned Water Week to focus on solutions applicable to policies, technology and business, to differentiate it from the many other large-scale world water conventions and trade shows.

Planning for SIWW 2010, which will be held in conjunction with the World Cities Summit, has already begun. More than 20 per cent of the exhibition space at next year's Water Expo has already been reserved, the organisers said.

In 2010, the focus 'will be on efficient and cost-effective solutions to provide safe drinking water at an affordable price to the masses amid the global economic downturn,' Mr Toh said.

Nominations for the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2010 are now open and will close on Oct 31. The $300,000 prize honours individuals or organisations for their contributions to solving global water problems by applying innovative technologies or policies and programmes.