Hosted by the German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs (GESALO) and in cooperation with the German Water Partnership (GWP) and MENA Projektpartner a Delegation of German companies from the water and wastewater sectors explored business opportunities in Riyadh last week.
Eight German enterprises offering high-tech products and competitive services including highly efficient water pumps, sewage infrastructure solutions, satellite-based environmental water services and project management expertise took part in a German-Saudi Water Conference and absolved numerous B2B meetings with companies from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
German-Saudi Water Conference connecting corporate world to science
The delegation visit took off with the German-Saudi Water Conference: Trends & Solutions in Wastewater Treatment and Desalination on November 12. Oliver Oehms, Delegate of German Industry & Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen, inaugurated the conference underlining that “today´s event is yet another manifestation of GESALO´s almost 40 years old mission to nurture Saudi-German business relations“.
Over 60 specialists, researchers and representatives from the related Saudi business community gained valuable insight such as the success story of reverse osmosis and solar power in combined application. Prof. Mattheus F. A. Goosen from Alfaisal University presented this setup as the state of the art in modern water desalination.
At the end of the conference, the German delegates positioned themselves and their products referring to presentations by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation and ILF-Tecon & Partners. The potential contribution of German technology to future investments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was clearly lined out, which set the agenda for the following days of B2B meetings.
On November 13 and 14, the German delegates followed an intense schedule of meetings with Saudi companies such as Abunayyan, Abdulkarim, NWC, NWWC and many more. Meetings were prearranged and accompanied by GESALO staff.
Werner Hanswillemenke from SWP-Systems GmbH commented on the logistics performed by the organizing partners stressing the “excellent service“ provided during the four days.
Dr. Thomas Heege, CEO of EOMAP GmbH & Co. KG added: “We would like to thank all organizing partners for hosting the German delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It provided us with excellent business opportunities and the intense schedule even allowed us to meet with the board of directors of SWCC, the world’s largest desalinated water producer, at their headquarters in Riyadh. In this and other follow-up meetings we saw an actual demand for environmental water services for desalination plants and our satellite-based water quality products and services are well positioned to support those activities.”
Kind invitation by Saline Water Conversion Corporation
A highlight during the German delegation visit was the invitation by SWCC´s Governor Eng. Ali Bin AbdulRahman AlHazmy who personally greeted the delegation at the corporation´s headquarters in Riyadh. Dr. Christian Zankiewicz from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy presented the German delegation and encouraged all participants to explain the possible application of their products and services in the management of desalination plants and the support of Saudi Arabia´s extensive network of water pipelines.
Major contributions to Vision 2030
The delegation not only strengthened Saudi-German economic cooperation, but also made a major contribution to Saudi Vision 2030. Many products offered by the German companies increase the efficiency in production and recycling. The loss of valuable water resources could be diminished significantly, which is in line with Vision 2030 that promotes “the optimal use of Saudi water resources”.
German Business Delegation:
- BFS Betonfertigteilesysteme GmbH
- Dornier Consulting International GmbH
- EOMAP GmbH & Co.KG
- HOMA Pumpenfabrik GmbH
- KSP Engineering GmbH
- PBT GmbH
- Putzmeister Solid Pumps GmbH
- SWP Systems GmbH
Partners: German Water Partnership e.V. (GWP) and MENA Projektpartner e.V.