Delegates to the World Cities Summit and Singapore International Water Week were treated to a buffet-style spread from several East Asian nations, in a nod to the East Asia Summit's Conference on Liveable Cities to be held in conjunction with the water conference.
The welcome reception was hosted by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Defence and Minister in charge of the Civil Service Teo Chee Hean and National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.
The evening gave delegates a chance to 'catch up with old friends and meet up with new ones', said Dr Yaacob.
In the coming days, delegates will discuss the building of sustainable water supplies and cities for future populations.
East Asian cities face the biggest resource crunch, as an estimated 26 million people are expected to move to cities every year over the next two decades.
The summits bring together experts from over 70 countries to discuss and share problems and successes in developing sustainable cities.