Saudi Arabia’s water sector seeks private partners

Riyadh is turning to the private sector to meet the growing demand for wastewater and potable water infrastructure. “Already in the early part of 2019 contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars have been awarded for Saudi Arabia’s first public-private partnership (PPP) water and wastewater schemes, and more awards and tenders are expected before the end of the year. (…) The kingdom’s Water & Electricity Company (WEC), an entity fully owned by the Ministry of Finance and charged with overseeing the development of PPP desalination and wastewater projects, has awarded several contracts for the kingdoms first independent water project (IWP) and independent sewage treatment project (ISTP) since the end of 2018.”