Prince Khaled bin Sultan chairs a meeting of PSIPW council in Delft, Holland on Friday. (AN photo)

RIYADH: Saudi Arabian and Dutch water experts met on Friday in the Dutch city of Delft to discuss water issues as well as possible partnerships and opportunities for collaboration.

The roundtable deliberations, organized by the Netherlands Water Partnership, took place on the sidelines of a meeting in Delft of leading officials from the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) to consider nominations for the next award, to be announced at the end of 2010.

Assistant Minister for Defense and Aviation Prince Khaled bin Sultan, who chairs the PSIPW Council, attended the meeting. It was followed by a dinner hosted by the mayor of Delft and attended by the Prince of Orange, Prince Willem-Alexander, heir to the Dutch throne, as well as Prince Khaled, members of the PSIPW secretariat, and representatives of the Dutch academic and business communities.

The Prince of Orange chairs the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. He attended the third PSIPW awards ceremony in 2008.

Secretary of the PSIPW committee Abdulmalek A. Al-Asheikh told Arab News the prizes, which reflect Saudi Arabia’s continued efforts to address water concerns at both local and global levels, had inspired scholars and scientists to work hard to solve water-related issues. He said the purpose for holding PSIPW Council meetings abroad was to encourage the exchange of ideas and open channels of cooperation among international water specialists, scientists and scholars. The city of Delft was chosen this year because it is home to the Delft University of Technology. The Netherlands is also internationally renowned for its distinctive expertise in water management and water technology. Alsheikh said the PSIPW officials would also visit Dutch water projects to learn from Holland’s experience in the fields of water and conservation.

The prize, made every two years, was instituted by Crown Prince Sultan in 2002.

There are five categories, with the top SR1 million prize given to the winner of the creativity category. Winners of the other four categories — surface water, alternative water resources, water resources management and protection fields — receive SR500,000 each.