Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) signed a memorandum of understanding on 25 March 2012 with Dow Chemical Co to jointly pursue development of desalination technologies.
At a signing at the Saline Water Desalination Research Institute (SWDRI) in Jubail, the two sides agreed to start initiatives to share local and global practices and insights, while researching desalination practices and technologies.
Among those at the ceremony were Dr Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al Ibrahim, SWCC governor; Groom Bereberah, executive vice president of Dow; and Dr Ibrahim Altesan, general director of SWDRI.
SWCC is the largest producer of desalinated water in the world with 32 desalination plants and 18% of world capacity.
Describing the new link-up as “a great honour”, Peribere said, “With an unmatched specialty portfolio of advanced materials we constantly aim at bringing customers differentiation and solving global challenges locally together. Dow is looking forward to the profound local and global insights from SWCC while also sharing our expertise garnered over 50 years of innovation and market leadership.”
Dr Ilham Kadri, commercial director, Dow Water & Process Solutions, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said, “Together, we will work on the membranes and the chemicals that (Dow) Advanced Materials can offer, from ultrafiltration to reverse osmosis to PAA to our microbial offerings, with the aim of improving the efficiency of the desalination operations in Saudi Arabia and beyond.”