JEDDAH — Water deals, worth $800 million (SR3 billion), considered to be the first of its kind in the Middle East, were signed in Riyadh on Monday.
Hashim Yamani, minister of industry and chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Organisation for Industrial Estates and Technology Zones (SOIETZ), signed the contracts for water management services to be executed in three industrial cities in the Kingdom in cooperation with the International Company for Water Distribution (Tawzea).
Tawzea said that the contracts will cover a period of 30 years. Tawzea is one of the first national companies to provide water services and facilities management in a comprehensive and integrated method. The company is a 50/50 percent joint venture between AmiWater, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company, specialising in water management projects, and the Saudi Company for Industrial Services (SISCO).
Tawfiq Al Rabea, general director of SOIETZ, said that the signing of the contracts for the allocation of water services was part of the system to upgrade its services "in order to overcome all obstacles industrialists might face." He added that the projects would help make industrial cities in the Kingdom benchmark cities and models for others.