Poised for growth: Singapore's water industry secures $150m, adds 500 more jobs

Number of water companies tripled to 150 since 2006.

Singapore continues to be a leading global hydrohub and preferred base for water companies to capitalize on growth opportunities.

PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, announced recently that the number of water companies has tripled since 2006, bringing the total to 150 water companies and 26 research centres today. New investments secured in 2013 alone will contribute a further $150 million of annual value-add and generate about 500 jobs when fully realised.

PUB adds that new investments over the last year include Beijing Enterprises Water Group (BEWG), a leading provider of water and environment services in China, which established its international headquarters in Singapore to build critical capabilities and address overseas markets. Other key projects include Xylem, Aqualyng, Nijhuis Industries, Witteveen + Bos and TaKaDu.

Here’s more from PUB:

It is estimated that the overall water infrastructure market size in Asia alone from 2010-2020 is USD$400bn*. With the huge opportunities presented outside of Singapore, Singapore-based companies have been going overseas to explore potential projects. For example, last year, Singapore-based companies secured 13 projects worth S$274 million. 

Furthermore, while Singapore companies have largely been focused on EPC opportunities, many companies are expanding to other parts of the value chain such as operations and maintenance (O&M), technology supply and overall ownership of water assets in the last few years. For example, in China, Singapore companies own municipal wastewater assets that treat up to 1 million cubic metres of wastewater daily. Besides water companies, other companies not traditionally in the water space such as Utraco, Tee, Annaik and CNA have also started embarking on water projects.