BOSTON, Mass. - Today, IDA announced that H.E. Eng. Khaled Al Qureshi, CEO of Saudi Water Partnership Company, will serve as the Chairman of the IDA Public and Private Utility Advisory Committee. This special committee of the IDA Board of Directors works to increase engagement among the utilities related to desalination and water reuse solutions and exchange best practices for current and future facilities.
"At SWPC, we believe in continuous growth and improvement, and this is an excellent opportunity to capitalize on the knowledge and expertise gathered through this unique IDA platform.
Saudi Water Partnership Company's scope expanded in recent years, and our portfolio of "Triple P" projects now covers most of the value chain within the water sector in the Kingdom. Within the last five years, SWPC was responsible for tendering 11 mega projects with an average timeframe of only 20 months (from EoI to F.C.). As a result, SWPC has become the leading tendering agency in the Kingdom and the MENA region. Our blueprint is being followed now in many neighboring countries, and we are the first to extend our services and knowledge for others to benefit.
As the Kingdom's principal buyer and the water sector's procuring arm, SWPC considers ESG a main pillar and a critical element in enabling our strategy and the Kingdom's vision.
Environmentally speaking, with the launch of the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) and more than 60 programs announced under SGI to contribute to the growth of the green economy. We at SWPC have been focusing on Water Reclamation in recent years. In addition, we have been working to reduce the carbon footprint and have achieved to reduce of 112KT of CO2, and this number will continue to grow in the upcoming years. Renewable Energy Sources & Energy Cap have also been introduced to all new projects to reduce dependency on nonrenewable energy sources.
As for the Social aspect, SWPC has Local Content Commitments on all our projects and achieved very high Nationalization percentages across the portfolio. As a non-profit organization, we find innovative solutions to contribute socially through job creation, college graduate training programs, and working with our developers on future community-impacting projects.
In terms of Governance, SWPC follows the best international procurement practices and a very attractive business model governed by the PPP manual developed by the National Center of Privatization of Saudi Arabia.
It is my pleasure to contribute to the IDA's collective efforts to share knowledge and best practices across the globe, and I am pleased to serve such a noble endeavor," said Eng. Khaled Al Qureshi.
"Eng. Khaled Al Qureshi is a talented reference in the sector. Under the umbrella of the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agricultural, SWPC, with Eng. Al Qureshi's leadership has developed an ambitious and attractive program of PPP for the international water community. The level of transparency and necessary guarantees transmits the seriousness of the Kingdom's commitment to solving the water scarcity problem. The Shuqaiq 3 and Rabigh 3 plants were built on time, even after two years of the pandemic, and these are two excellent success stories on many levels.
I'm glad Eng. Al Qureshi is on the Board of IDA. We are proud to work with him to increase the dialogue among the public-private sector utilities to share experiences and grow together," stated Carlos Cosin, IDA President and CEO of Almar Water Solutions.