Panelists included Ibrahim Shirazi, adviser and executive director of business development, NWC, Mario Salameh, head of project financing and export financing, HSBC Saudi Arabia, and Professor Walid Abderrahman, chairman and CEO, Miahona.

"The first thing to remember when we speak of privatizing a utility such as water and power is that the process has no end when it comes to delivering and increasing standard of customer service, efficiency and profits for the people of Saudi Arabia," Shirazi said.

They have proved that the private sector can greatly complement the public sector through recent completions of various types of water plants, which the private sector has built and is operating. "This shows that it is a major breakthrough in which public-private partnerships (PPPs) could become a reality in Saudi Arabia," Shirazi added.

He explained that the current strategy of NWC is a three-tier process consisting of creating revenue, improving infrastructure including green projects, and funding to profit and give back to the shareholders.

The panelists however agreed that privatization itself could have many successful models but said that since water projects are so essential to the Kingdom, goals must be precise and carried out rapidly.

"Next year will be a big year for NWC and the Kingdom's water sector as the company will be going through a transformation in organizing and concentrating on treated sewage effluent (TSE) and other contracts will take center stage," Shirazi said.

During the symposium, NWC signed a SR1 billion 30-year contract with Huta Hegerfeld Saudia Ltd. to sell and supply TSE to the construction company for use in the massive Jabal Omar development project in Makkah.

Commenting on the financial crisis, especially regarding risks and absence of project funding, Salameh explained that when looking at project financing in the region there are actually two aspects.

"We did not see or feel a financial crisis in Saudi Arabia at all. Saudi and international banks in the Kingdom all maintained liquidity with money to invest in major projects," Salameh said.

He further added that if Saudi projects have the right sponsors and economic scale, financing is available in billions of Saudi riyals, and deemed this type of financing as “selective financing.”

"Most banks when determining whether to lend to a project developer first looks at the sector importance for the country, the region and likelihood of success. Water is obviously a vital resource we cannot live without. Therefore water projects are a must to finance," Salameh continued, adding that if a project also has top tier names and is government backed, the projects attract more interest.

Commenting on the vision of the future and also commending the private sector, Abderrahman said he believes the private sector can lead the way with expertise in the future successfully.

"I can already see that the private sector has achieved major improvements in major cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah. I believe it a great opportunity to evolve and create PPP development. I have seen America and Europe using PPP models and my dream is to see it working here in the Kingdom to improve health, industry and other vital needs," Abderrahman said.

He concluded by proposing that the current development of privatization and PPP models in Saudi Arabia could lead in pioneering the use of the same models in other GCC countries in the future.