Japan is seeking to strengthen its presence in the Saudi water sector by offering new technology and products, said Satoshi Takizawa, a professor of the Tokyo University at a seminar at Asharqia Chamber Monday (Jan 27).
He was leading a 15-member water mission to the Kingdom to promote Japanese latest water production, efficient management, waste water treatment and energy saving technology and expertise in Saudi Arabia.
“We have strong presence here and we want to deepen our cooperation between companies of the two countries engaged in the water sector, he said while delivering the keynote speech at the seminar on ‘Total water solutions by Japanese technologies.’" It was organized by the Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East.
Eight leading Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Azbil Corporation, Kubota Corporation, Toray Industries Inc. and Toyobo Co., introduced their newly developed technology with the objective of marketing it in the Kingdom.
Kubota Corporation presented its recently developed improved high pressure pumps and energy recovery system for RO desalination plants. Its energy recovery system is the Isobaric type and targeting the highest efficiency as a system, said Daisuke Ishii, a representative of the company.
Kubota has been supplying its water pumps to Saudi Arabia since 1976. Its main activities are to design, manufacturing, testing of various kinds of pumps and construction of pump stations. “We are keen to expand our business in Saudi Arabia,” noted Ishii.
Mitsubishi offered its innovative "optimized water solution." The company is an EPC contractor with its own process for sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO), water treatment and reclamation of water. “Our water technology is being constantly upgraded in five R&D centers,” observed Norihiko Ono, senior manager of the company.
Mitsubishi’s SWRO technology was used in the Jeddah phase I and II plants, which were completed in 1989 and 1994 respectively. These plants have been showing great reliability for the last 20 years, said Ono adding that Mitsubishi has delivered a total of 26 desalination plants as of now.
Toyobo Company offered its hollow fiber RO membrane element and technical services for sea water desalination plants. To manufacture these products, Toyobo established a joint venture, Arabian Japanese Membrane Company (AJMC) in cooperation with ACWA Holding and Itochu Corporation in 2010 at the Rabigh Plus Tech Park. “AJMC was set up in the Kingdom to market its products in the entire Middle East,” pointed out Yuki Miura, representative of Toyobo Company.
Toray Industries Inc. introduced its latest membrane technology such as brackish and low fouling water treatment RO products. Toray’s product lines span all commercial membrane types including RO, NF, UF and MF.
Fuji Telecom Inc. presented its strategy for water leakage control solution. Its products included various detectors and measurement instruments such as water leak detectors, pipeline and cable locators, water flow and pressure measurement equipment and noise logger system.
Water projects: Japanese keen to expand Saudi role
