JEDDAH: Japanese expertise in technologies related to desalination, wastewater treatment and water recycling was discussed in detail by a visiting Japanese delegation at a seminar at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) yesterday. Sami F. Bahrawi, board member of the JCCI and chairman of Jeddah Marketing Board, said Japan was well-known the world over for its advanced technologies and some of those related to water could be of immense use to the Kingdom.
The seminar, organized in cooperation with the JCCI and Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME), featured presentations on latest water technologies by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toyobo Co., Nitto Denko Corporation, Toray Industries, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation, Hitachi Plant Technologies, Suido Kiko Kaisha and Japan Nus. They are also participating in the exhibition of Saudi Water and Power Forum, which opened at the Jeddah Hilton later in the day.
Japanese Consul General Toshimitsu Ishigure emphasized that the effective utilization of water resources was one of the highest priority issues the world over and noted that the remarkable progress made in the seawater desalination, wastewater treatment and recycling had made tremendous progress. “Japan, with its advanced technologies in the effectual usage of water resources, has extended cooperation to Saudi Arabia in this crucially important sector for many years,” he said, adding that the construction of more than half of the large scale desalination plants in the Kingdom has been undertaken by the Japanese companies.
The Japanese companies are constructing several more desalination plants in Shuqaiq, Rabigh and the neighboring areas of Jeddah. A wastewater treatment plant is also under construction by a Japanese company in Jeddah. Two Japanese companies recently supplied reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for the desalination plants in the Kingdom. “These accomplishments constitute the clear evidence of close cooperation between the two countries,” the consul general said.
He added that JCCME has been inviting Saudi experts working in the water sector to Japan and enabling their visits to various water related plants, especially in the last four years. Japan International Cooperation Agency has also been implementing the transfer of technologies on water resources, seawater desalination and wastewater treatment by inviting trainees from the Kingdom to Japan. A total of 125 Saudis have been trained in water technologies in Japan over the last three decades.
Dr. Satoshi Takizawa, professor of urban engineering at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering, who heads the mission, gave a presentation on the Japanese way to the total solution of water and wastewater problems.
Also among the seminar organizers was Japan Water Desk (JWD) in Jeddah, based at the JCCI, which is the point of contact for Saudi businessmen.
JWD has been pursuing its mission of bringing Japan and the Middle East closer together.