Question
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng: To ask the
Minister for Trade and Industry in light of the price of water having increased
by 30% effective July 2018 (a) what has been the feedback from industries and
businesses with high water usage; and (b) how can the Government help to
address the impact on the challenges faced by our industries and businesses in
respect of the SMEs' competitiveness.
Oral reply (to be attributed to Senior Minister of State
for Trade and Industry Mr Chee Hong Tat)
- Government economic agencies regularly engage businesses and
monitor feedback on the cost of doing business. This includes costs arising
from both external and domestic price developments.
- As overall business costs include components such as labour
and rental, the costs of water and electricity constitute a small percentage of
total business costs for most companies. The rise in water price since July
2017 is estimated to increase total business costs in the chemicals industry by
0.10 per cent, general manufacturing industry by 0.12 per cent, accommodation
industry by 0.17 per cent, and the food services industry by 0.26 per cent.
- Government agencies have been working with our industry
partners to help companies reduce their water usage, which will reduce their
water bills. For instance, EDB and PUB are working with businesses to implement
water efficiency measures and to tap on alternative sources of water, such as
seawater, for process cooling. The Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association is
exploring a partnership with the Waste Management and Recycling Association of
Singapore to adopt food waste digesters for water recycling.
- Businesses looking to improve water efficiency can tap on
PUB’s Water Efficiency Fund to implement water saving measures. For more
customised capability building solutions, including the adoption of water
efficiency standards, businesses may tap on Enterprise Singapore’s Capability
Development Grant (CDG), which defrays up to 70 per cent of qualifying project
costs.
- I encourage businesses to use the available schemes and adopt
measures to save water and improve productivity. And if you are successful in
achieving cost savings, you can then share some of these savings with your
workers and customers.