Japan aims to take up 6% of global water business market in 2025

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TOKYO, April 12 Kyodo -
The Japanese government will help the private sector more aggressively tap into
the water business in other countries, aiming to garner some 6 percent of
overseas markets available in 2025, an industry ministry panel said in a report
released Monday.
The move comes amid growing concerns that Japanese firms have lagged behind in
competition with rival European water companies for contracts in such areas as
sewage system construction and seawater desalination in developing nations.
The value of overseas water business markets that will be open to
private-sector firms is expected to expand to some 31 trillion yen (about $333
billion) by 2025, according to estimates by the Japanese Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry.
Aiming at the 6 percent share, worth some 1.8 trillion yen, is the central part
of the report agreed on by the panel, which has been studying the market under
the initiative of the ministry.
The panel's recommendations will be reflected in a government strategy for the
country's economic growth due out in June.
The panel's analysis shows that a shortage of clean water, especially in
emerging economies in Asia, is likely to boost business opportunities in such
projects as water supply and sewage.
The report says the main focus is on building and managing water utility
systems while suggesting that Japanese firms with desalination technologies
should aim to win contracts both for delivering know-how as well as for
constructing and maintaining necessary facilities.
The panel says companies need to create alliances in order to better compete
against rival foreign firms and that the government should financially support
such alliances through state-backed lenders.
==Kyodo
2010-04-12 22:28:00