The SWA (formerly the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, SWCC) delegation was led by His Excellency Eng. Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Abdul-Karim, who, in his new term, will lead the organisation through a transformation. Recently relaunched as the Saudi Water Authority (SWA), the organisation is responsible for the development and enforcement of regulatory structures and the advancement of the water infrastructure supply chain. This also includes the aim to research and implement innovative solutions, headed by the Water Technology Innovation Institute Research Advancement (WTIIRA).
Fostering high-level discussions
Wednesday 5 June commenced at the NWP office with an engaging meeting between the delegation and the Dutch Special Envoy for Water, Meike van Ginneken. Later, the SWA delegation met with Piebe Hoeksma from the Dutch Water Authorities, who explained how the public domain around water in the Netherlands is structured.
This was followed by inspiring presentations at Deltares regarding innovative developments in the region and integrated water resource management by Robin Morelissen, Ahmed Alkadi and Judith Kaspersma. The dashboards displayed, developed by Deltares, were of great interest to the delegation from Saudi Arabia.
The visit continued at TU Delft and was followed by a visit to the Port of Rotterdam, where Erik van der Heijden guided the delegation through the port's advanced hydrogen developments. The day culminated with a CEO dinner in Amsterdam, fostering high-level discussions and future collaboration prospects.
Showcasing Dutch innovations
On Thursday 6 June, an early start saw the delegation travelling to Leeuwarden, where they visited Wetsus and Water Alliance. Johannes Boonstra (Wetsus) and Harro Brons (Water Alliance) showcased the ecosystem for new innovations in Leeuwarden. After this, the journey continued to EWT in Enschede where the delegation was received by Birol Yosul, who showed the EWT production line for wind turbines.
At NX Filtration, a member of NWP, Prof. Erik Roesink presented their groundbreaking hollow fibre membranes. At the University of Twente's Nano Lab, Prof. Wiebe de Vos shared information on advanced nanotechnology applications in water treatment.
Back in Amsterdam, one-on-one meetings centred around smart water technology and AI, setting the stage for potential future collaborations in these cutting-edge areas. One key action that was discussed was to expand the Saudi ecosystem to both enable open innovation and deliver on Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
NWP would like to thank all participants and hosts for their invaluable contributions. We look forward to continuing this fruitful collaboration with the Saudi Water Authority.
