Metito emphasizes the economic benefits of Public-Private Partnership

Metito's participation at this year further highlighted the cost-benefit and financial viability of outsourcing water treatment services to the private sector in the region. Bob Smith, Concession Specialist at Metito delivered a key speech and a presentation which covered a wide spectrum of vital topics stressing on establishing complementary relationships by drawing on the strengths of both public and private sector in the Middle East and the regional water trends.

Bob Smith said,

"The water industry in the Middle East is facing rapid expansion due to the exponential growth in the demand for water and the efficient way of handling this growth is by encouraging more public private partnerships (PPP) in the water industry. Cost savings, efficient facility management, comprehensive environment stewardship are a few advantages of promoting PPP in the region."

Over the last few years PPP have started to take shape across a wide gamut of industries in several GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt. Water and waste water investment in the region is expected to reach a staggering $ 120 billion over the next decade thereby providing a substantial expansion platform for PPP in the Middle East. This expansion will help create jobs in the private sector; provide quality services and facilities for citizens and stakeholders, and lift much of the burden of development from the already overloaded shoulders of the public sector.

He added "Water must be managed as a social good and supported with sound economics. A lack in an appropriate tariff to cover basic production and investment costs will lead to a huge misuse of water. Inappropriate cost recovery, limited use of targeted subsidies and lack of sound investment planning are a few issues which can be addressed through PPP. From an economic point of view, full scale privatisation for water and waste water treatment not only will tremendously improve the quality of consumption but it will also shape and define better water consumption across industries"

Metito, founded in 1958, is a shining example of a Middle Eastern company that has grown to be a world leader in its field. Metito operates locally in 14 countries of the Arab and Islamic World, and supplies its plants internationally to locations as far apart as Argentina and Australia from its base in the United Arab Emirates. Some of the company's notable achievements in 2006 include high purity demineralised water supply for Jebel Ali and Umm Al Nar power projects in UAE, drinking water supply to Kandahar in Afghanistan and high quality water supply for North Rumaylah project in Iraq.