Announcing this and giving his report card on the SIWW yesterday, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said it was 'encouraging', especially for an inaugural event.

National water agency PUB's chief executive Khoo Teng Chye would not be drawn into comparing the figure with those from similar conferences, but said that with Asia growing so rapidly, the figure was only 'the tip of the iceberg'.

Among the deals struck for water-related projects, the three-year one between Singapore-based water and wastewater treatment company Ayser-Technische Corporation and Acuatico was the biggest, worth $272 million.

The two signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a joint venture, which will, among other things, design, build and run private water infrastructure projects in Indonesia.

Local companies had their share of the pie. Home-grown tech start-up AridTec found distributors in more than 10 countries for its patent-pending technology, which extracts water from thin air. It expects to earn $16 million in the first year from this.

A Singapore consortium comprising PUB Consultants, CPG Consultants and Pico Art International also secured a deal to design the King Abdullah Water Centre in Saudi Arabia.

The PUB's Mr Khoo said that the key to the event's success lay in its providing a forum for policymakers and providers of technical solutions to come together.

More than 8,500 people attended SIWW and two other conferences held concurrently - the World Cities Summit and the East Asia Summit Conference on Liveable Cities.

SIWW, to be run on the theme 'Sustainable Water Solutions for Cities' till 2011, will be held here every year.

Beyond money changing hands, the event promises other tangible gains for the host country and the participants, said Dr Yaacob.

Singapore could reap new technology solutions going forward, including how to lower the cost of desalination. It could also look into bringing together private- and public-sector money and young people with ideas, he said.

There was also 'no harm' in looking at how the private sector can be more involved in managing the water supply here, he added, pointing to countries where the private sector played a much larger role in the provision of utilities.

Singapore's model of water management was a key take-away for foreign participants, Dr Yaacob said. Newater, now a source of potable water for industry, showed how reliability in water supply could be achieved, he added.

Proceedings from the Water Leaders Summit will be presented at the World Water Week in Stockholm next month and at the World Water Forum in Turkey in March next year.

Dr Yaacob admitted that an overpacked programme was among the teething problems faced in this maiden conference, but added that these would be ironed out by the next SIWW.

Echoing Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's words during a summit dialogue, he said: 'Forty years ago, we climbed on other people's backs. We have achieved something that we can be proud of.

'Perhaps now it's time for others to climb on our backs, to learn from us.'

arti@sph.com.sg

wycin@sph.com.sg