PANEL OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER EXPERTS AFFIRMS SINGAPORE’S PLANS AND ROADMAP TO GROW SINGAPORE’S ENVIRONMENT & WATER INDUSTRY

The International Advisory Panel (IAP) to the Environment and Water Technology (EWT) Exco, a high-level panel of leading water experts and industrialists, concluded its two-day meeting which sees the panel discussing the Singapore’s environment and water technology plans as mapped out by the Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI).The environment and water industry has been identified as a future growth sector for Singapore.The inaugural IAP meeting was held in Singapore on 9 and 10 November 2006. 

The Panel affirmed EWI’s strategy of using R&D to grow the industry and encouraged the export of the products and services of Singapore-based companies in the water sector.

The Panel noted that some S$330million has been set aside by the Government to catalyse R&D in the water sector.By 2015, EWI, which leverages and draws on the expertise of agencies such the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), PUB, and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), IE Singapore, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB), aims to triple the industry’s value-added[1] (VA) contribution to S$1.7 billion and double the jobs within the industry to about 11,000.

The Panel also acknowledged Singapore’s competitive advantages in terms of speed of implementation, effectiveness and its strategic position within Asia which allows companies to efficiently serve the 3-billion population market in the region.The Panel pointed out that Singapore not only had the intellectual capital to provide valuable strategic leadership in this area, but also could further enhance its efforts to grow the industry, through ensuring the sufficient pipeline of manpower for the industry and providing a conducive environment where water R&D can flourish.

The Panel also commended Singapore on its holistic approach to manage its water resources and in particular, was impressed by the success of NEWater, one of Singapore’s four National Taps.Members commented that Singapore is a good role model for other countries and large cities in terms of water management.

On the recently launched Environment and Water Research Programme (EWRP), the members noted the breadth of the proposals and again emphasized the need to set aside funding for doing basic research in water technologies and wider environmental challenges. 

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