With rapid urbanisation across Asia, the need for smart and effective urban solutions have never been more critical.
Your company can capitalise on this growth potential to expand overseas. You have a competitive advantage in your overseas ventures, as Singapore has developed and adapted some of the world’s most advanced urban solutions.
Singapore is continuing to drive innovation in urban solutions and sustainability, with S$900 million allocated to this by Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 (RIE2020).
You can rely on Singapore’s trusted reputation to deliver products across the range of urban solutions that includes infrastructure, the built environment, energy, security, transport, and water.
Indonesia is undergoing a rapid transformation from a rural to an urban economy, with its cities growing faster than other Asian countries at a rate of 4.1% per year. By 2025, Indonesia is likely to have 68% of its population living in cities. The island of Java in particular faces high urban growth potential with its 50 million rural residents6.
Investments are being made to improve Indonesia’s infrastructure. In the 2018 State Budget, the Indonesia central government allocated a larger amount of money to the infrastructure budget, IDR 410.4 trillion (S$37.3 billion) from IDR 388.3 trillion (S$35.3 billion) in the 2017 budget. This will be used to build electricity networks, and flats for low-income citizens, irrigation, and roads7.
Central and East Indonesia can offer your business more opportunities to fill gaps in connectivity, logistics, utilities, infrastructure and tourism development, as they are less saturated compared to West Indonesia.
Find out about the urban solutions opportunities in the Indonesian market.
6: “Indonesia's Urban Story”, The World Bank, 2016 7: Indonesia Investments, 2017
The Philippines has experienced rapid urbanisation in recent years. Half of its population live in urban centres, of which almost 25% live in the capital, Manila.
The urban infrastructure in Metro Manila is unable to keep up with the growing urban population in the regions within and adjacent to it. Infrastructure investments are in demand to address water and energy needs.
While water management has improved in the Philippines, more needs to be done. The country had a “national water security index” score of 40.4 in 2016, an improvement from its score of 35 in 2013, due to the better enforcement of environmental laws and the growth of water supply systems8.
However, the Philippines could still face a water shortage for drinking, sanitation, agriculture, and industry within the next ten years, unless there is stronger management and conservation efforts.
In the energy space, renewable sources of energy, like hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and biomass is making headway in the Philippines, comprising 34.3% of all installed energy capacity9.
The Philippines government plans to increase the renewable energy-based capacity to constitute 35% of the total energy capacity by 2030, as well as to become the number one geothermal energy and wind producer in the world.
You can help to unlock the Philippines’ energy and water potential, and expand into the Philippines with your technological expertise in energy and wind.
Don’t miss out on the opportunities in the Philippines market.
8: “Asian Water Development Outlook 2016”, Asian Development Bank, 2016 9: “The Report: The Philippines 2017”, Oxford Business Group, 2017
Vietnam’s urban population has more than doubled in 30 years from 13 million in 1986 to 30 million in 2015. The fast pace of urbanisation resulted in challenges in the areas of waste and water treatment, and public transportation.
You can be part of the exciting transformation in Vietnam’s water market, as there is support for water utilities to become partly privatised in the long term10. The transition towards private sector-led utilities across the country opens up opportunities for your business to optimise distribution networks, especially through the reduction of non-revenue water and an increased emphasis on asset management.
An example of Singapore water solutions firm in Vietnam is Darco Water Technologies, which partnered InfraCo to work on four municipal water treatment projects in Vietnam. The investments for these 50-year concession projects are worth S$50 million. Once completed, the projects will provide up to 62,000 cubic metres of water that will benefit about 500,000 residents across Vietnam.
You can also explore opportunities in improving the resilience of existing water supply systems in Vietnam, as the country is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change. In addition, there is a market for brackish water desalination for commercial and industrial purposes, due to the rising salinity of groundwater sources in Ho Chi Minh City.
Your business can also explore Vietnam’s strong growth prospects in the clean energy space. The energy demand in Vietnam is seeing 12% growth annually.
The Vietnam government has set targets for solar power to be the main source of renewable energy in the future, with installed capacity expected to be increased to 850MW by 2020, which would account for 1.6% of the country’s power generation.
Examples of Singapore firms that have experienced success with clean energy projects in Vietnam include Sunseap International, and InfraCo Asia. Both companies will jointly develop one of the first large-scale solar projects in Vietnam – a 168 megawatt-peak utility-scale solar power project.
In another energy project, Singapore-based Diamond Energy, a provider of smart energy solutions, was selected by the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam to design, implement and manage a pilot energy demand response programme for power corporations in Ho Chi Minh City.
Separately, Power Automation, a power system control and substation automation company in Singapore, supplied a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Distribution Management System to Vietnam Electricity Southern Power Corporation.
If your company has expertise and capabilities in clean energy, the Vietnam clean energy space offers attractive opportunities for expansion.
Want to know more? Learn about the business potential in the growing Vietnam market.
10: “Vietnam's privatisation drive 'offers potential for S'pore investors'”, The Business Times, 2018