S$2.2b deals sealed at Singapore Water Week

By Tang See Kit, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 June 2009 1730 hrs

SINGAPORE: This year's Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) has seen more deals flowing in, despite the current economic downturn.

The four-day event, which ended last week, saw S$2.2 billion worth of deals signed. This is six times what was achieved last year.

The SIWW saw several industry players like Hyflux and GE inking deals to boost research and development as well as further enhance their global presence.

Singapore's water-technology firm Hyflux expanded its plans in the Middle East region by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Swiss-based ABB for the company's project in Algeria worth S$28 million.

Hyflux also entered a joint venture with General Desalination Company (GDC) to develop two seawater desalination plants in Libya.

The SIWW also witnessed industry players collaborating with educational firms to expand their research and development capabilities.

Multinational company GE entered a partnership worth S$150 million with the National University of Singapore (NUS) to work on a research and development centre to develop safe drinking water systems across Asia.

Event organisers said these deals signified that the water industry is poised for further growth across all sectors, despite the gloomy global economy.

SIWW's managing director, Michael Toh, said: "I think (for) the water industry, the solutions provided have to cover all these (different areas). You know, in the plant, you have instrumentation, (and) you need chemicals, you need the pumps, you need the valves. So I think as a whole, the industry will grow."

Currently, Singapore's Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) aims to triple the value-added (VA) contribution from the water industry to S$1.7 billion, which represents 0.6% of the GDP, by 2015.

Employment within the sector is also expected to double to about 11,000 people, with a majority in the professional and skilled categories.

Moving forward, organisers are seeking to brand the Water Week as a global platform for water solutions.

Jimmy Lau, managing director of Singapore Airshow & Events, said: "The whole value chain of the water industry is here and there will continually be discussions going on and looking for solutions, which is what the Water Week here in Singapore concentrates on. And so we expect the event to throw up a lot more opportunities, both technology as well as getting more funding for projects for water."

The SIWW attracted more than 10,000 attendees from 85 countries, up from last year's 8,500 visitors. More than 420 companies from some 28 countries took part in the SIWW.

28 new products and technologies were also unveiled for the first time at the event's Water Expo's Innovation Corner.

- CNA/ir

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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Hyflux in joint venture to develop 2 seawater desalination plants in Libya

By Tang See Kit, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 June 2009 2052 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore-based water treatment firm Hyflux has made its first foray into Libya. It has entered a joint venture to invest and develop two seawater desalination plants there.

The plants which use membrane-based reverse osmosis technology will be located in Libya's two largest cities - Tripoli and Benghazi.

Hyflux signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the General Desalination Company (GDC), the commercial arm of Libya's Ministry of Utilities on Wednesday.

The two plants will provide a combined total of at least 900,000 cubic metres of drinking water every day.

This exceeds another Hyflux project in Algeria which is the current single largest desalination plant in the world with a capacity of 500,000 cubic metres per day.

That project has a value of S$632 million.

Hyflux will be providing the two plants with its award winning Kristal Ultra Filtration pretreatment membrane and process technology.

Hyflux did not provide a specific investment figure for its latest projects.

But it hopes to set "new benchmarks in terms of size and efficiency" for the Libyan plants.

The developments are also in line with the company's strategy to focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Sam Ong, group deputy, CEO/CFO, Hyflux, said: "This is a very iconic, significant milestone for Hyflux. This is a new geographical expansion. We believe we are going to put more resources into the MENA region, and that includes Libya. And we believe North Africa and the Middle East region will continue to be big market potential for Hyflux. This will add significantly to what we are able to do in Singapore, Southeast Asia, India and China."

The details of the joint venture project including conceptual designs and finance models will be finalised in the months ahead.

Hyflux also said it will be talking to bankers recommended by its Libyan partners to discuss project financing.

The construction timeline has not been finalized but Hyflux said the plants will be built one after another. - CNA/vm

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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Liquid boom

BOTTLED DRINKS
Water manufacturer Pere Ocean looks to grow

Valarie Tan, valarie@mediacorp.com.sg

DESPITE slowing global demand, water manufacturer Pere Ocean is still enjoying solid exports.

The Singapore company sees steady orders of 400,000 bottles of mineral water from Japan every month and is now available in more than 20 hotels in Japan.

And from this month, it plans to export some 150,000 bottles a month to convenience stores in Australia and China.

But before these plans fell into place, things weren't altogether smooth-sailing for Pere Ocean. After sales for its water dispensing services fell by 5 per cent in Malaysia and Singapore towards the end of last year, the firm spent over $100,000 on roadshows and surveys at other overseas markets.

Said Pere Ocean chief executive Jerry Tan (picture): "Last year there were warning signs that the recession was looming, so we had to prepare. So, we sent people out to explore other markets to see what we could do."

Fortunately, said the firm, the shortfall was made up after the Chinese New Year period. It currently provides water dispenser services to 8,000 to 10,000 clients.

The company found that demand for safe drinking water surged after an outbreak of food poisoning cases around the world last year. "Towards the end of last year there was a lot of bad news about products from China and other places. So, people started to look for quality products, even if they had to pay a little bit more. So, we fitted into that category," said Mr Tan.

Pere Ocean has set aside another $750,000 over the next three years to invest in strengthening its brand regionally and develop new health drinks. It believes that demand for its products will grow especially with more people becoming health-conscious in the region.

In branding, Pere Ocean has partnered Singapore sports organisations to provide bursaries to aspiring young athletes. It already partners international brands like Lipton and Nestle through its water dispensing services, and manufactures water for housebrands like NTUC FairPrice that outsource the service.

The company is already looking to set up a second plant in Malaysia, which will cost about $2 million and is expected to be up and running within the next six months to a year. Although it declined to provide exact figures, Pere Ocean projected a 10- to 20-per-cent growth in revenue this year — something the company can drink to during these stormy times. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

From TODAY, Enterprise – Wednesday, 06-May-2009