Contributing to Responsible Water Use

For the Gulf states to achieve food stability and kickstart a regional food processing industry, conserving water is essential. Vivek Gautam speaks to BASSEM HALABI of Metito Overseas Limited, a leading player in water treatment technologies FOUNDED in 1958 , Metito Overseas Ltd. has grown to become a leader in the design and supply of water / wastewater treatment and water desalination systems. Building on the undoubted achievement in the water and wastewater business, the Group established Metito Utilities Ltd in 2007 as its investment arm, giving it the responsibility to oversee the company's investment into water and wastewater assets. Metito is moving ahead of its timeand gearing up to address market demandsfor state-of-the-art water treatment technologies. The company recently won the Frost & Sullivan 2009 Market Leadership Award for Middle East Water and Wastewater Treatment Market. Bassem Halabi, Group Business Development director at Metito, shares his perception of the trends in the GCC water and wastewater treatment market, key issues facing the industry today and the company's initiatives to address them. What are some of the key trends you have observed in the GCC water and wastewater treatment market in the last few years? There has been an increase in the number of plants planned in both water and wastewater markets as there is a shortage in all the GCC countries in such utilities. Whilst the tendering process for public and municipal sectors appears to be on track, semi government and private sector projects have slowed down. In view of the prevailing economic situation, more projects are expected to change form to concession or Public Private Partnership (PPP) type. In recent years, there is a strong opinion building up in favour of increased wastewater recycling and reuse in the GCC region. Do you see this as a big business opportunity? How is Metito geared up to take advantage of opportunities arising in this area? Metito has been a strong advocate of recycling and reuse of wastewater, and has been promoting the idea at every international event related to the water industry. There is definitely a major business opportunity in this area and Metito is well positioned to handle this business. The company's rich experience in this field puts it at the forefront of this technology. What, according to you, are some of the challenges in water and wastewater market? Could you provide us with a snapshot of some of the best practices at Metito that have helped you to overcome the same? The major challenge was the ability of local companies to handle largescale municipal projects. Metito has overcome this challenge and has built a workforce with the necessary experience to enable it to handle such projects. The challenges have recently shifted to the financial ones, whereby clients are not in a position to invest in such projects and other infrastructure or human development projects have taken precedence. Metito has, over the last decade, built its Utility arm to invest in water and wastewater projects on concession basis to support the local needs. The company has further been promoting PPPs at the international conferences. Which of the business segments, Product and Services or Concessions, is expected to drive the growth of the company in near future? Though the concession business normally contributes more to the growth of a company, this type of business has not yet picked up pace. It is expected that under the prevailing economic conditions, the tendency to carry out projects on concessions basis will be higher. In the meantime, products and services business is still there, and expected to have a major impact on the growth of the company. Last year, Metito collaborated with Berlinwasser* to form a new company. What impact has it had on your concessiAir Jordan I Low