The government has decided to support Japanese firms in the field of water purification and water supply and sewerage system operation in developing countries in Asia, sources said today.
It has allocated around 5 billion yen in the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget to carry out the plan to enable Japanese companies to advance into water supply projects and the construction of new sewage plants overseas in three years, they said.
It has been estimated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry that the market for water resource related businesses will expand to around 100 trillion yen in 2025 from 60 trillion yen in 2005, reflecting population and economic growth in emerging nations.
The government expects that leading edge technologies possessed by Japanese companies for water filtration and water saving will attract demand in developing and emerging nations, where water and sewerage needs will grow further from now on, the sources said.
Japan has supported construction of water supply systems in developing countries through its official development assistance, and the ministry aims to enable Japanese companies to undertake everything from system construction through operation, according to the sources.