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The Wisconsin state government is sponsoring an 11-day trade promotion mission in mid-August to Indonesia and Singapore and has begun seeking state businesses to join.

Gov. Scott Walker will stay home, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., which is organizing the trip. Walker delegated leadership of the trip to Ryan Murray, deputy secretary at WEDC. He'll be joined by Lora Klenke, who heads the agency's division of International Business Development, as well as Klenke's staff.

According to a website set up to publicize details of the trade mission, delegates leave Aug. 11 for Singapore; then leave Singapore on Aug. 16 to travel to Indonesia, and return to the U.S. on Aug. 22.

While China and Japan dominate Asia's regional trade, Singapore and Indonesia both are potentially prominent if very dissimilar economic partners.

Singapore, with 5.4 million crowded into less than 300 square miles, uses English as its primary language. But it's an Asian business hub that consistently ranks among the top nations for "ease of doing business." And it's often regarded as a springboard for neighboring nations like Malaysia and India.

More importantly for Wisconsin, Singapore is a global leader in developing water technology. Surrounded by salty undrinkable ocean water, it suffers from water scarcity and is developing into a "global hydrohub" out of necessity. Metro Milwaukee also has staked a role in water tech, and water engineering tops the list of businesses that will be featured on the trade mission.

"Singapore is doing a lot on the research side and if our companies can help Singapore address its water issues, that would be a coup for Milwaukee," said Dean Amhaus, chief executive of the Water Council, a Milwaukee-based trade group.

While Singapore is a stable and prosperous nation, Indonesia has suffered repeated and brutal recessions in the past 20 years that have aggravated its poverty. But Indonesia is huge. With more than 240 million citizens, Indonesia is the world's fourth-largest country. Half of its residents are under 30 years old.

According to the WEDC, Indonesia has a five-year plan to invest $150 billion to develop its infrastructure, while more than 60 million low-income Indonesian workers are projected to join the middle class in the coming decade, significantly increasing already strong consumer demand in the country.

The WEDC said: "The program is open to all industries, but is ideal for state businesses specializing in water and environmental equipment and technology," as well as medical equipment; aviation and aerospace; defense and security; energy power and distribution; food processing and agricultural.

The deadline to apply for the trip is July 1.