With close to 100 water leaders and CEOs coming on board as speakers, almost 1,700 delegates from all over the world attended the Business Forums during the Singapore International Water Week 2011.
Besides networking opportunities, the Business Forums also offer industry leaders an extensive spread of business networking, partnership information and lucrative deal-making opportunities across eight markets covering the Americas, Australia, China, Europe, India, Japan, Middle-East & North Africa and Southeast Asia.
Americas Business Forum 2011 Summary
In North America, emerging challenges such as water scarcity, ageing infrastructure and declining water quality present opportunities for investments, while the Public Private Partnership is seen as a solution to the financing challenge in the United States. In Canada, an estimated C$383 billion will be required to enhance water and wastewater infrastructure with a key focus on reducing energy consumption in water treatment. Meanwhile, rapid development in South America is well supported by clear regulatory frameworks, making it attractive to investors. Brazil is expected to lay out US$42
billion worth of water development projects by 2015 while new mining projects in Chile will result in a projected 45% increase in water demand by 2020, presenting companies with opportunities to explore solutions for combining water and energy plants effectively.
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Australia Business Forum 2011 Summary
Urban drought and rapidly declining water supplies coupled with the mining boom are placing severe stress on Australia’s water resources, but this also presents enormous opportunities for industry players. In the face of increasing climate variability with prolonged droughts and sudden floods, desalination is emerging as the key solution to ensuring Australia’s water security. Stronger emphasis is also being placed on water recycling and storm water harvesting. Australian Utilities has embarked on an A$30 billion investment programme over the next 5 years on enhancing Australia’s water infrastructure to provide for better water security in the face of severe climate change.
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China Business Forum 2011 Summary
China’s 12th Five-Year Plan is focused on long-term environmental sustainability with targets set to reduce water use by 30% for every new dollar of industrial output and to reduce chemical oxygen demand in water bodies by 8% before 2016. Four trillion yuan will be invested into water projects during the next decade to improve China’s water conservancy infrastructure. Vast business opportunities also lie in the Shandong province, with plans to build 136 new sewage treatment plants and 10,000 km of drainage pipelines. Tianjin Binhai New Area is looking to double its desalination capacity to 480,000 tons per day by 2015 and to improve treated water coverage up to 95%.
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Europe Business Forum 2011 Summary
The European Commission will introduce a blueprint for water resources in 2012, keeping in line with the resource and energy roadmap in the EU 2020 Strategy. Companies worldwide can leverage on this roadmap for business and strategic alliances in Research and Development. While Europe is already an established market with the technological know-how to offer, opportunities for the development of water treatment capacity still exists in Eastern Europe, particularly in the Baltic region. Technology to streamline and optimize water usage is being explored to reduce the footprint of water-intensive shale gas and natural gas production.
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India Business Forum 2011 Summary
With rapid population growth, urban development and an increased focus on Public Private Partnerships, vast investment opportunities lie in the expansion of the water industry and enhancement of water management capabilities in India. These opportunities commensurate with the efforts for major legal reforms. A “National Water Framework Law” will be tabled in the 12th Five-Year Plan to make India an investor-friendly location. Small-scale, decentralised projects are well sought after to encourage involvement from local communities and to streamline the pricing process. Stronger emphasis is also being placed on water recycling for industrial purposes to reduce India’s reliance on rapidly depleting freshwater supplies.
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Japan Business Forum 2011 Summary
Japan remains at the forefront of developing cutting edge water technology, which includes low-energy and low-cost products and processes for decentralised waste-water systems, desalination plants and highly-advanced membrane technology. The water business is highlighted as one of the export targets in Japan’s new growth strategy. Japanese systems and standards for green technologies and disaster prevention are seen as benchmarks all over the world. In addition, Japanese companies have also been proactive in their Corporate Social Responsibility efforts in helping to develop the capacity of service providers in Cambodia and the Middle East.
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Middle East and North Africa Business Forum 2011 Summary
Situated in a hyper-arid and water-scarce region, the rapidly growing population has compounded the region’s water woes. Increased reliance on desalination, wastewater reuse and brackish groundwater abstraction is expected to continue. In Egypt alone, the capacity for wastewater treatment and reuse is expected to increase threefold under the integrated sanitation & sewerage infrastructure project. Qatar’s multipronged approach towards water sustainability includes increasing its desalination capacity, implementing aquifer storage and recovery and reducing water loss through enhanced network management. The National Water Company in Saudi Arabia is also setting up special purpose vehicles for treated sewage effluent projects.
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Southeast Asia Business Forum 2011 Summary
Higher standards of living across Asia have resulted in an increasing demand for access to water, driving a market growth of 20% annually. Governments across Southeast Asia have shown strong commitment in driving the development of Public Private Partnerships in the water sector. The Asian Development Bank complements this effort by providing partial or full guarantee loans for Public Private Partnership projects and targets to have 25% of their total loans used in water related projects by 2020. Indonesia has also set aside US$7.2 billion for its urban and rural water development programmes in a concerted effort to meet its Millennium Development Goals targets. The Metropolitan Works Authority of Bangkok is exploring solutions to prevent salt intrusion and attain net zero energy in pumping stations.
Click here for slides presented at the Southeast Asia Business Forum 2011
