Netherlands ambassador Ronald Mollinger was officially announced as the new director of the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) in Oman on 21 January.
Making the announcement, the MEDRC chairman, HE Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, secretary general of Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, “Knowing his experience and willpower, I believe that Ambassador Mollinger is the right person to give an extra push to the activities of MEDRC in the direction of the water needs of the core parties.”
A graduate of Universiteit Leiden, Mollinger has served the Netherlands government as ambassador in Hungary, Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon and the UAE. He stressed the role of MEDRC in the Middle East peace process and said that the center would emphasise the development of initiatives that supported cooperation between the core parties in that process and that were politically relevant.
“The projects should address real and immediate needs for fresh water using desalination technology and, at the same time, have political relevance,” said the new director. “High on my agenda will also be the expansion of the reach of MEDRC by attracting new member countries and bringing them on board.”
Also announced at the same time was the promotion of Shannon McCarthy to deputy MEDRC director. She spoke of the very important need for corporate support of MEDRC programs and benefit to industry from MEDRC Research and Capacity Building programs.
In particular, she mentioned the development of the MEDRC In-House Research Center in Oman, which is being built to offer a regional testing and training site for state of the art desalination and water purification technologies and is open for collaborative projects with industry.