AquaSwiss to market IDE’s MED technology in MENA and SE Asia

Desalination system manufacturer IDE Technologies announced on 4 May 2010 that it had signed a technology transfer agreement with AquaSwiss AG, a Switzerland-based provider of advanced water solutions

The accord grants AquaSwiss AG the exclusive right to use IDE’s thermal desalination technologies in defined regions within the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia.

IDE signed the agreement to exploit the significant potential of these markets, all of which are inaccessible for the company based in Kadima, Israel. IDE has committed to transfer the technology and know-how over a specified time period, and AquaSwiss has agreed not to compete with IDE outside the defined regions.

“We are extremely pleased to have secured IDE’s technology and know-how as a means for bringing superior desalination solutions to some of the world’s largest desalination markets that are closed to IDE for political reasons,” commented Sanjeev Varma, CEO of AquaSwiss AG. “By acquiring the right to use IDE’s multiple effect distillation (MED) technologies in these markets, we believe we can outperform the solutions currently available in these markets in terms of efficiency and price, an advantage that will position us to secure a prominent market share. We are planning on expanding our operations through additional technology acquisitions that will allow us to strengthen our delivery capabilities”.

“This agreement is a practical solution that enables us to capitalize on the technological assets that we have built through more than four decades of R&D,” added Avshalom Felber, IDE’s CEO. “We believe it represents an optimal path for benefiting from the demand of large markets that have been closed to us, and thereby to increase IDE’s value and benefit our shareholders.”