水务是个大市场It’s time for the water industry to take on the world

The $2.4bn bid for Northumberland Water by a fund owned by Hong Kong industrialist Li Ka-Shing last month was seen as just the latest takeover of a British utility by international investors. In reality, it is the latest in a series of early moves that may yet reshape the global water sector. Yet in the coming era of water shortages and water conflicts, there is urgent need for greater global integration in an industry that, for historical and political reasons, remains overly national both in scope and ambition.

上月，香港实业家李嘉诚旗下一家基金斥资24亿美元竞购Northumberland Water，被视作国际投资者收购英国公用事业公司的一起最新事例。事实上，这是一系列初步行动中的最新一起，迟早会重塑全球水务行业的格局。不过，在即将来临的水资源短缺和冲突时代，迫切需要对水务行业进行更大规模的全球整合。鉴于历史和政治方面的原因，从范围和抱负上讲，这一行业都过于局限于国家层面。

A global population expanding by 220,000 people a day requires new sources of water. To be fair, corporate activity in this area is increasing. In Israel, Whitewater, a leading water technology business, is completing a new funding round to support international expansion. In Singapore, KKR is reported to have paid $114m for a stake in a wastewater treatment company to gain access to the Chinese market. Despite this, however, few water companies operate outside a confined geographical area.

全球人口每天增加22万人，这需要新的水源。公平地说，在这一领域的企业行动正不断加强。在以色列，一家领先的水务技术公司Whitewater即将完成新一轮筹资，以支持其国际扩张。在新加坡，据报道KKR已斥资1.14亿美元，入股一家水处理公司，借以进入中国市场。但即便如此，没有几家公司的经营范围超出受限的地理区域。

Just as the energy and electricity sectors have become international, so now we need to see the emergence of truly global water multinationals. The reluctance of water companies to venture into international markets is rooted in history, and a handful of bad experiences. Water industry investors have seen the sector as a utility play – dull, but safe from cyclical pressures and volatility.

正如已经国际化的能源和电力行业那样，眼下我们也需要看到真正全球化的跨国水务公司的出现。水务公司不愿冒险进入国际市场，是源于历史因素，以及一些失败的教训。水务行业的投资者将该行业视为公用事业——平淡无奇，但相对安全，不太受周期性压力和波动的影响。

This is a particular opportunity for the UK, where the water industry is arguably the most successful of all the 1980s privatisations. British water companies have, with few exceptions, provided reliable supplies for their customers and have improved environmental conditions. Glass Cymru, the Welsh water company, has even been transformed by creative management into a business in which its customers are its owners. Despite a tough regulatory regime, these companies have retained the confidence of investors to the extent that to Mr Li and others, they now seem undervalued.

这对于英国来说是一个特别的机会。在上世纪80年代的私有化改革中，水务行业可以说是最为成功的一个行业。除了少数例外，英国的水务公司为客户提供了可靠的供应，并且改善了环境状况。威尔士水务公司Glass Cymru经过管理层富有创意的改造，变身为一家由客户持股的公司。尽管面对严苛的管理制度，投资者扔对这些公司抱有信心——对于李嘉诚和其他人来说，目前它们的价值似乎被低估了。

Their full potential has not been realised, however. British water companies, along with a few others across Europe, have the technical and managerial ability to take on the challenges of global water. They could develop supplies to the new cities of China and India, as well as playing a major part in Africa. They could also improve environmental standards to make water clean and safe. So far, they have not done so.

然而，它们的潜力并未完全发挥出来。英国的水务公司，以及欧洲的几家同类公司，具备了迎接全球水务挑战的技术和管理能力。它们可以为中国和印度的新城市开发水资源供应，也能在非洲发挥重大作用。它们还可以提高环境标准，使水更加清洁和安全。但它们迄今还没有做到这些。

This is a shame, because the global water challenge will not be solved without imaginative corporate expansion. Global consumption of fresh water is rising by more than 60,000bn litres a year, yet more than 1bn people are without a safe supply. This is compounded by issues such as the unsustainable exploitation of fresh water and desertification – where the Sahara advances south by more than 40km a year.

这令人惋惜，因为没有充满想象力的企业扩张，全球水务挑战便无法得到解决。全球淡水消耗量每年增加逾60万亿升，而逾10亿人口还享受不到安全的用水供应。而淡水资源的过度开采和沙漠化使上述问题更加严峻——撒哈拉沙漠目前正以每年40多公里的速度向南延伸。

Water is central to the development plans of the fastest growing economies of Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Across the world water needs to be found, conserved, managed, cleaned and delivered. Where no alternatives are available, desalination must be developed and deployed. Water needs to be protected from the dangers of disease and the threat of global terrorism. The skills to manage water are therefore of huge value, providing they can be improved and expanded.

对经济增长最快的亚洲、中东和拉丁美洲来说，水资源在其发展规划中占据着核心地位。我们需要在全球范围内寻找、保护、管理、净化和分配水资源。在没有替代资源的地区，必须开发和应用海水淡化技术。应使水资源免受疾病危险和全球恐怖主义的威胁。因此，水资源的管理技能如果能得到改进和传播，将产生巨大的价值。

Of course there are risks. But domestic consumers can be protected by ringfencing different activities, and international ventures can be structured to attract those prepared to take more risk. Clear regulation can protect the principle of providing a good-quality service at home, while allowing the collaboration and partnership that will be needed to secure global markets.

当然，这其中蕴含着诸多风险。但是，可以通过限制不同活动的方法保护国内消费者，也可以采取特定的结构组织国际投资，来吸引那些愿意承担更多风险的公司参与开发。明晰的规章能够保护为国内提供高质量服务的原则，同时允许赢得全球市场所需的协作与合作。

Water can be one of the great industries of the 21st century. The early transactions and takeovers now under way should mark not just the transfer of utilities from one owner to another, but the creation of an entirely new global sector, capable in time of matching energy and communications in importance and value. Water companies should seize the opportunity.

水务可能成为21世纪最伟大的行业之一。目前已进行的几项早期交易和收购，不仅标志着公用事业公司所有权的转移，还标志着一个全新全球行业的创建——就其重要性和价值而言，迟早将赶上能源和通信行业。水务公司应当牢牢抓住这一机遇。

Nick Butler chairs the Kings Policy Institute at Kings College London. Ian Pearson is a strategy consultant and former UK government minister

本文作者是伦敦大学国王学院(Kings College London)国王政策研究所(Kings Policy Institute)主席和战略顾问兼前英国内阁部长