Singapore- Water authorities and firms from India, Japan, the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Singapore signed 27 agreements totalling more than 270 million US dollars during the city-state's first Water Week, organizers said on Monday.

A water fund was also launched to attract 320 million US dollars in investments in Asian water projects.

Among the deals was one worth an estimated 200 million US dollars over the next three years for Singapore-based Ayser-Technische Corporation and Acuatico to design and operate private water infrastructure projects in Indonesia.

Black & Veatch, a global engineering, construction and consulting company, clinched 34 million US dollars' worth of projects in the Singapore, Australian and Hong Kong markets.

The US-based Marmon Water, one of the largest manufacturers of residential and commercial water treatment systems, will build an 18-million-US-dollar plant in Singapore.

The four-day event brought together more than 350 participants from 40 countries. It was attended by more than 8,500 representatives from governments, utilities providers, businesses and academics.

Participants shared a common vision to "make our cities sustainable, vibrant and liveable," said professor Tommy Koh, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum Governing Council.

"Water is essential for life," Koh said, noting there are more than 1 billion people in the world without access to safe drinking water - 700 million of them in Asia.

"The time has come for us to recognize people's access to safe drinking water and to sustainable sanitation as a human right," he said.

The week's proceedings will be presented at the World Water Week in Stockholm in August and the World Water Forum in Turkey next March. (dpa)