German Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development Peter Ramsauer and a 40-member delegation accompanying him yesterday visited the project, which is owned by the National Water Company.
It is the third in terms of capacity and fourth in terms of depth in the world.
The minister expressed satisfaction over the progress of work of the project, which is the third in terms of capacity and fourth in terms of depth in the world. Work on the project started in September 2009 and is expected to be commissioned as scheduled in May.
The work is undertaken by Abul Jadael Co. for Contracting and Maintenance with consultancy service provided by German firm Safege/p2mberlin.
The delegation also met with Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (JCCI’s) Vice Chairman Mazen Batterjee and Secretary-General of Adnan Mandoura, and Saudi–German business representatives.
Batterjee reviewed the deep-rooted relations between the Kingdom and Germany in various sectors including transportation and communications.
He said the wide-ranging mutual relations paved the way for the transfer of German technology to the Kingdom. He added the Kingdom is the third largest trade partner of Germany after the United States and China.
He said there are plenty of opportunities in the medium scale industries in the Kingdom, pointing out that Mars is setting up a chocolate factory in the country.
The minister expressed his country’s desire to increase economic cooperation between the two countries and enhance the volume of mutual trade between the two countries.
He also called on medium level industries in his country to invest in the potentially rich Saudi market.
The Kingdom’s imports from Germany stood at $9.5 billion in 2011, a rise of 20 percent compared to 2010, making it the third largest importer to the Saudi market.
