Riyadh — Saudi Arabia could need more than $53 billion in water sector investment supported by private funds as demand grows, officials said on Sunday. "Work is currently progressing on the construction of an investment platform and the establishment of strategic partnerships in the production, transportation and distribution of water," Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdul Rahman Al-Fadli told reporters after opening a two-day Water Investment Forum Saturday evening. The minister said a number of investment opportunities would be offered to the private sector to contribute to the construction of desalinated water stations. "The ministry has a program to privatize the Saline Water Conservation Corporation (SWCC) to double its current production level in the next 15 years to meet the rising demand for the vital liquid," he said. "We are envisaging that the capital requirements in the next five years will reach up to SR200 billion ($53.3 billion)," Mansour Al-Mushaiti, deputy minister with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, told a the Forum on Sunday. "Future plants will be tendered to the private sector," said Ali Al-Hazmi, SWCC governor. "We have everything ready for privatization." Saudi water demand is increasing by more than five percent annually, he said. Minister Fadli said the Kingdom now has about 520 dams in various regions to preserve rain and flood water. "We will also use the recycled water for the industrial and agricultural purposes," he added. He, however, made it clear that the available quantities of water in the Kingdom at present are enough provided that the water is used rationally by citizens and the industrial sector. SWCC, created in 1974, is the world's largest producer of desalinated water. It operates 28 plants and as part of the process is able to generate electricity for the national power grid. By 2020 the Kingdom is targeting 52 percent of desalinated water production through "strategic partners". — With agencies
