The Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Abdul-Rahman Bin Abdul-Mohsen Al-Fadhli, announced Monday the establishment of the Water Transmission and Technologies Company (WTTCO). The arrival of WTTCO was enacted by the Council of Ministers and is one outcome of the Privatization Program in the Kingdom's water sector. WTTCO's launch marks a major step by The Supervisory Committee for the Privatization of the Environment, Water, and Agriculture Sector towards restructuring the Kingdom's water sector. WTTCO will manage and maintain water transmission, distribution and storage systems that span over more than 8,000 km and transmit more than 7 million m3 per day of desalinated water across the country. The company will work to achieve higher efficiency and impact for the sector, while driving innovation in water technology and research. Closely aligned to the Saudi Vision 2030, WTTCO's arrival is one of the most important transformations seen in the water sector to date. The new company — owned by the government — represents a quantum leap in the integration of the water sector as WTTCO will operate commercially to maximize the use of assets and achieve greater spending efficiency, while also decreasing supply chain costs. On this occasion, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for the Privatization of the Environment, Water and Agriculture Sector, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Eng. Abdul-Mohsen Al-Fadhli, expressed his thanks and gratitude for the interest in and continuous support of the water sector from Saudi Arabia's wise leadership. Al-Fadhli also expressed his appreciation for the decision of the Council of Ministers to establish WTTCO to achieve the goals of the National Water Strategy and the Privatization Program, which will enhance water services to achieve future growth and sustainability. Al-Fadhli considers the establishment of WTTCO to be a historic step in enhancing the efficiency and organization of the water sector while contributing to a prosperous future for the Kingdom's economy. The water sector will do so by attracting more than SR50 billion in investment in water transmission and strategic storage systems, through the private sector's participation in funding future projects. Eng. Abdullah Bin Ibrahim Al-Abdlkareem, SWCC governor and WTTCO's chairman of the Board, reiterated that the establishment of the company contributes to the development of the water sector supply chain. "He also reaffirmed the importance of WTTCO's role in managing, constructing, developing and maintaining water transmission, storage and dispatch systems, while adding more than 3,500 Km of new transmission lines. These lines will distribute more than 4 million m3 per day of desalinated water to communities and businesses. "WTTCO's efforts will help to achieve the objectives of the Kingdom's water supply and demand plan, while maintaining operational excellence and meeting the highest standards of health, safety and environmental protection. WTTCO's arrival will also see the completion of projects to integrate water connections across multiple regions of the Kingdom." He continued by stating that the company will work with its partners in the water sector to reach further milestones in the quality of water services provided — guaranteeing that reliability and sustainability are maintained for all stakeholders. WTTCO will ultimately help to enhance Saudi Arabia's water security and contribute to social and economic growth, therefore creating new opportunities for sector progress alongside additional gains in efficiency and further cost reductions. This will be achieved through various avenues, including partnerships with the private sector and the self-funding of projects. Al-Abdlkareem emphasized that WTTCO will contribute positively to the quality of life for all Saudis by developing public services and infrastructure while advancing water transmission pipelines to meet the needs of all regions of the Kingdom, and keep pace with population growth. Al-Abdlkareem stated that the company will work to develop and train local Saudi talent, who today make up more than 97 percent of WTTCO's workforce. Employees will be provided with the necessary expertise and skills to complement WTTCO's work in water research and technologies, to maintain Saudi Arabia's leading position in the global water sector. — SG
