Metito, the international desalination, water, and wastewater Treatment Company, urged that the private sector must become more involved in solving the severe shortage of water the MENA region by assisting in the infrastructure of countries. This call to action was made by Metito at the World Islamic infrastructure finance conference (WIIF) that took place in Doha, Qatar on the 5th – 6th of November. The focus of the inaugural conference was to fast track infrastructure development with new insights into the latest mechanisms for financing complex infrastructure projects.
Metito’s participation at the conference further highlighted the importance of the private sector involvement with local and regional governmental infrastructure planning. Mr. Walid Orabi - General Manager of Metito Qatar, was amongst the panellists of the conference and delivered a key speech and presentation that covered a wide spectrum of vital topics assessing new opportunities and challenges in the Middle East water sector.
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Walid Orabi - General Manager of Metito Qatar said, “Approximately 45 million people in the MENA region lack safe water and more than 80 million lack safe sanitation. In a region that is classified to be the driest in the world, solutions are urgently required to overcome the rising demand of water. Due to continuous population growth, contamination of both surface and ground waters, uneven distribution of water resources, and periodic drought, water agencies have been forced to search for new initiatives in sourcing water. In many parts of the developed world, wastewater reuse has been integrated in the infrastructure as a way to fight the lack of water.”
He added, “Estimates show that there will be over $120 billion expenditure for waste water investments in the MENA region in the next decade. This is not enough as there is a need of an additional $100 billion in order to meet the requirements and the additional investment is unlikely to come directly from individual Government funds.”
The two day conference was graced by several leading dignitaries who represented key CEOs and Managing Directors of private and public organizations from within the region. The dignitaries further shared their experiences and ideas addressing the ever increasing international water and environmental demands and discussed new and innovative ways to help better finance the increasing water demand.
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.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
