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(i) Water Industry
Much of the international spotlight has fallen on the water industry, which accounts for about 40 per cent of the global environmental industry. Hailed by Fortune as one of the world’s greatest business opportunities and the 21st Century’s answer to oil, the water industry is one that Singapore has a vested interest in. Having left behind its days of water rationing in the 1960s, Singapore’s present vision is to become a ‘Global Hydrohub’, serving three per cent of the global water market by 2015.
Already, homegrown firms such as Hyflux, Keppel and SembCorp are building water treatment plants in many overseas markets like China and Middle East, while leading international players such as General Electric, Siemens and Black & Veatch have established global water research and development (R&D) or competence centres in Singapore.
Environment and Water Industry Development Council
The Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) was set up under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) to spearhead the growth of the environment and water industry in Singapore. The launch of the EWI follows the announcement by the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) in July 2006 to provide $330 million over the next five years to boost the development of the local environment and water industry by providing additional funding for R&D.
EWI, through the on-going efforts of agencies such as EDB, Public Utilities Board (PUB), International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR), National Environment Agency (NEA), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS), will:
- attract more companies to locate their operations in Singapore;
- help grow our local companies;
- encourage more companies and research institutes to develop cutting-edge water technology; and
- further export Singapore's capabilities to growing markets especially in the Middle East and China.
EWI also aims to make Singapore a hub for water-oriented events. The inaugural Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) will take place on 23 to 27 June 2008, and subsequently be held annually in Singapore. The SIWW is the global platform for water solutions. It will bring policymakers, industry leaders, experts and practitioners together to address challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements in the water world.
With the growing global emphasis on water and the environment, Singapore is well-placed to take the lead in this industry as an R&D base and as a provider of water solutions. Singapore targets to grow value-added (VA) contribution from the water sector from $0.5 billion (0.3% of GDP) in 2003 to $1.7 billion (0.6% of GDP) by 2015. Jobs for this sector are expected to double to about 11,000 in 2015, with a large part of the growth in professional and skilled categories.
(ii) Waste Management Industry
With the environmental market in Southeast Asia alone estimated to hit US$50 billion by the year 2010, Singapore is also building critical mass in the areas of waste management and recycling. In Singapore, an estimated 760, 000 tonnes of solid waste is generated daily. With only one land-fill site at Pulau Semakau, there is an increased need to look beyond incineration and reduce our reliance on landfilling as a key means of managing waste. As such, waste management is one business growth area where Singapore requires good solutions, and where Singapore can serve as a working model and a test bed for new ideas.
Singapore today boasts the presence of major waste management players, including leading environmental services companies Veolia Environmental Services and Sembcorp Environmental Management, as well as companies specialising in e-waste recycling such as TES-AMM and Enviro-Hub. Moving forward, EDB will explore opportunities in this new growth area in partnership with other government agencies such as the National Environment Agency. |
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