The Dow Chemical Company and Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pursue joint development activities in desalination technologies, a company statement said Monday. As part of the MoU, Dow will partner with SWCC on initiatives to share local and global best practices and insights, while conducting research into desalination processes and technologies. SWCC is a Saudi government body responsible for desalinating sea water to augment the supply of potable water to coastal and inland cities in the Kingdom. It is the largest desalinated water producer in the world with 32 desalination plants that are responsible for 18 percent of the world's desalinated water production. "It's a great honor for Dow to be selected as SWCC's R&D partner and we are very conscious of the opportunity presented to our team," said Jerome Peribere, executive vice president of The Dow Chemical Company. "With an unmatched specialty portfolio of advanced materials we constantly aim at bringing customers differentiation and solving global challenges locally together. Dow is looking forward to the profound local and global insights from SWCC while also sharing our expertise garnered over 50 years of innovation and market leadership." "As Dow grows its presence in Saudi Arabia, we are partnering with leading entities such as SWCC in order to better understand the needs of this market and to deliver the right solutions at the right time," said Dr Ilham Kadri, commercial director, Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS), Europe, Middle East and Africa and general manager, AMD, Middle East & Africa. "Our MoU with SWCC will present an excellent opportunity for joint R&D, an area that is particularly relevant in light of our plans to invest in a manufacturing facility in the Kingdom." "Together, we will work on the membranes and the chemicals that advanced materials can offer, from ultra filtration to reverse osmosis to PAA to our microbial offerings, with the aim of improving the efficiency of the desalination operations in Saudi Arabia and beyond," he added.
