JEDDAH, 11 November 2006 — An international conference on “Public-Private Partnership” for the water and wastewater sectors will be held at Hilton Hotel in Jeddah on Wednesday. Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen will open the conference — essentially a road show — that has been sponsored by his ministry.
The objective of the conference is to introduce business opportunities for private industry openings within the overall water and wastewater industries of the Kingdom, considering that public-private partnerships can deliver on the promise of improved water quality and customer service and visible increases in capital investment.
The first opportunity in this process, which will finally encompass all major Saudi cities, will be the tendering of a management/O&M contract for water and wastewater services for Riyadh city. The prequalification of the bidders will start in January and the transaction will be finalized by August.
The Ministry of Water and Electricity (MOWE) has completed the process of reforming the water sector in the Kingdom. The major result of this reform process was the establishment of the National Water Company to improve the overall performance of the sector through the transformation of the service providers to a commercially oriented organization and the involvement of the private sector.
This is the biggest public-private partnership initiative for the water and wastewater sector in the Middle East and one of the strategic moves of the Kingdom to reform the water and wastewater sectors, according to the MOWE.
The basic idea of this reform process is to improve the overall performance of the sector through the transfer of the services to a business-minded environment.
The water sector reform program basically aims at providing access to clean and good quality drinking water for all residents, and sanitation connections to all households and safe disposal of wastewater; improving organization performance and customer service with a view to gradually becoming a commercially oriented organization; providing reasonably priced water and sanitation services with a view to cost recovery; progressing toward privatization to facilitate the enhanced performance of the sector; and protecting the natural environment and conserving natural resources in the Kingdom.
The MOWE has completed a strategic transformation plan over the past two years that provides a framework and guidance for the reform and privatization path. In addition, the MOWE has carried out a number of groundwork studies and audits on the technical status of the water supply and wastewater collection system that result in concrete recommendations for the improvement of the physical infrastructure.
The MOWE is preparing to sign its first PPP contract in Riyadh in 2007. Accordingly, it has hired multiple consultants and advisers to provide assistance in areas such as contract objectives identification, contract boundaries definition, tender preparation, business case development, bidding modality definition, bidder evaluation, bidder selection and contract negotiation.
In preparation of this management contract, the MOWE has engaged a reputable international water operating company to conduct a full operational audit to understand the current situation in various areas of water sector operations, suggest remedial action in line with best practices and identify opportunity for PPP contracts.
