Singapore aims to attract more international companies in the environment and water industry to set up manufacturing facilities and conduct research and development (R&D) activities, Channel NewsAsia reported on Monday.

The Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore has earmarked a seed-money fund of 5 million Singapore dollars (about 3 million U.S. dollars) while the Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) has planned to provide water companies with a fund of 330 million Singapore dollars (about 210 million U.S. dollars) over the next five years.

The EWI hopes that the value-add industry will grow from 500 million Singapore dollars (about 318 million U.S. dollars) in 2003 to 1.7 billion Singapore dollars (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) by 2015.

It is estimated that the global environment and water market is worth some 1 trillion Singapore dollars (about 635 billion U.S. dollars) annually, according to the report.

Last week, Singapore-based water R&D company GrahamTek announced a 16-inch membrane technology to convert waste water or sea water into drinking water, which is expected to reduce the city state's annual water treatment costs by up to 15 percent.

The PUB will replace the conventional 8-inch membrane with the 16-inch one in the Bedok NEWater factory from next year.

Xinhua