Background
“Singapore is committed to invest in R&D as a driver for economic growth and as a foundation for our long-term competitiveness. Our priorities are, firstly, to build up core R&D capabilities in selected strategic areas and, secondly, to attract and develop a significant concentration of talent to sustain a critical mass of advanced research activity into the long term.”
Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore & Chairman of Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC)
Over the years, active involvement of the private sector in Singapore’s environment development has helped germinate a local industry cluster of environment and water companies spanning the value chain – from research, planning and design, manufacturing, materials and equipment suppliers, engineering procurement and construction (EPC) to operations and maintenance (O&M). These companies having done well locally, have built up a wealth of technical experience and know-how which had good export potential.
Recognising that this industry cluster represents a new opportunity that could be nurtured into an economic growth engine, the Government has identified the Environment and Water Industry as a strategic growth area. In 2006, the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) announced the provision of $330 million over five years to promote research and development in this field over five years, so as to give our industry a sustained competitive edge in the global market and to position Singapore as a R&D base for environment and water solutions.
The Environment & Water Industry Programme Office (EWI) was set up in May 06 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) to spearhead the development of the environment and water industry. As shown below, EWI adopts a three-pronged strategy with technology as a key pillar. Our vision is to grow value-added (VA) contribution from the water sector from $0.5 billion (0.3% of GDP) in 2003 to $1.7 billion (0.6% of GDP) by 2015. Jobs for this sector are expected to double to about 11,000 in 2015, with a large part of the growth in professional and skilled categories. |