Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, who is also Chairman of the Board Directors of Saudi Water Partnership Company Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, signed today the agreements of Jubail 3B Independent Water Plant Project, which will be established in the Eastern Province South of Jubail with a potable water production capacity of 570,000 m3/day, with the preferred bidder through a competitive bidding process. Eng. Al-Fadley explained that the signing of these agreements help in implementing the decisions of the Cabinet, and achieving the goals and plans of the Ministry to showcase water production and wastewater treatment projects in the various regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in front of investors. Also, it is an extension of the signing of previous projects and further enhances the active participation of the private sector in developing this vital water sector and increasing its contribution to the development. The allocation of these projects under the environment, water and agriculture structure accomplishes the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030, and improves the quality of services and the efficiency of capital spending, by utilizing the experiences of the private sector. For his part, CEO of the Saudi Water Partnership Company Eng. Khalid bin Zwaid Al-Qureshi stated that the project was presented to the investors in BOO (Build, Own and Operate) approach, in which the winning consortium was chosen after a competition that took place among 4 consortiums, including 6 local companies and 4 international companies, adding that the project will be using "Reverse Osmosis" technology and serving the beneficiaries in Riyadh and Qassim Regions. This strategic project will also include solar energy units to reduce the electricity consumption from the grid, in addition to water tanks with a storage capacity of one operational day. The agreements, which were signed today at the Minister's office, are part of the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) that the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture intends to present to investors, and the supervisory committee to allocate the environment, water, and agriculture sector has completed, in the past months, developing a strategy to allocate the sector in line with the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030. For his part, CEO of the National Center for Privatization, who is also member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Company for Water Partnerships Eng. Rayan bin Mohammed Naqadi pointed to the great effort to establish a system of partnership between the public and private sectors and the application of international best practices, noting that since the center set the standards, frameworks, and legislation for the partnership between the public and private sectors, contracts for allocating a number of projects have been signed in several sectors, most of them under the sector of environment, water and agriculture. He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Araba is steadfastly moving towards implementing the Saudi Vision 2030. Naqadi said that the local content of this initiative amounts to 40% in the construction phase and 50% in the human resources during the first five years and increases to 70% during the remaining years. This initiative is an extension of the allocation and partnership processes between the public and private sectors in the environment, water and agriculture sector whose agreements are signed, after the successful completion of the signing of several projects for the independent water production and wastewater treatment.
