RIYADH: The volume of foreign investments in the field of chemicals at the Saudi Water Authority has reached about SR1 billion ($266.4 million), the authority’s Deputy Governor for Strategic Companies and Local Content, Mohammed Al-Sheikh, told Al-Eqtisadiah.
Al-Sheikh added, during an introductory meeting for the Innovation in Water Sustainability Conference, that the water sector aims to localize more than 18 strategic commodities in the coming phase, noting that the next step will be localizing the manufacturing of specialized chemical materials in the water sector through three factories in the northern, eastern, and western regions.
These will include chemical washing materials and anti-scalant materials, with a plan to export these products.
He explained that the localization journey reached an important milestone in mid-November with the opening of the Toray Middle East factory, a Saudi-Japanese joint venture that achieved self-sufficiency in membranes used in desalination processes and has the capability to export 50 percent of total production.
The deputy governor noted that these materials do not serve the water sector alone, but are also used in the energy, irrigation, and oil and gas sectors.
