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Saudi Arabia Starts First Privatization Program in ‘Rabigh 3’

The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture signs a deal to implement the first privatization program in the Kingdom. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture signs a deal to implement the first privatization program in the Kingdom. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Starts First Privatization Program in ‘Rabigh 3’

The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture signs a deal to implement the first privatization program in the Kingdom. (SPA)
The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture signs a deal to implement the first privatization program in the Kingdom. (SPA)

The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture signed on Monday an agreement to implement the first privatization program in Saudi Arabia.

The initiative lies in signing of Rabigh 3 Independent Water Project (IWP) from the desalination plant at Rabigh with a design capacity of 600,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day.

The new project will benefit the Makkah area to meet the growing demand for desalinated water there.

It was offered to investors under the build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) system and was won by the ACWA Power consortium.

Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman al-Fadhli, who also chairs of the Board of Directors of the Water and Electricity Company and the Supervisory Committee for the Privatization of Environment, Water and Agriculture Sector, signed the project’s agreement in the presence of Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammed bin Mazyed al-Tuwaijri in the Ministry’s headquarters on Monday.

Fadhli explained that the project is located on the Red Sea coast (150 km north of Jeddah) with a planned capacity of 600,000 cubic meters per day of potable water, using the desalination technology of seawater reverse osmosis, and it is expected to begin operating in 2022.

Signing the agreement comes within the projects of water production and sewage treatment of which the government intends to offer to investors in accordance with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, Fadhli explained.

He added that it also comes in line with the cabinet’s approvals to offer a number of water production and sewage treatment projects to investors with four projects for water production and three wastewater treatment projects.

These projects aim at raising the level of services, improving the efficiency of spending, benefiting from private sector expertise and financing and increasing its participation, the minister said.

He highlighted the ministry's success in reducing energy consumption levels in independent water production projects by 20 percent.

"The ministry has increased local content to 40 percent at the beginning of the project, gradually reaching 70 percent after the first five years of operation," Fadhli explained.

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Saudi Arabia Makes History with Adoption of Riyadh Treaty on Design Law

Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Makes History with Adoption of Riyadh Treaty on Design Law

Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Photo of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has made history by uniting the 193 member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to adopt the Riyadh Treaty on Design Law. This landmark achievement, realized after two decades of deliberation, underscores the Kingdom’s leadership in enhancing the global intellectual property system.

The announcement came at the conclusion of the Riyadh Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty, a rare event for WIPO, which has not held a diplomatic conference outside Geneva for more than a decade. It was also the first such event hosted in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, representing the final stage of negotiations to establish an agreement aimed at simplifying and standardizing design protection procedures across member states.

Over the past two weeks, intensive discussions and negotiations among member states culminated in the adoption of the Riyadh Treaty, which commits signatory nations to a unified set of requirements for registering designs, ensuring consistent and streamlined procedures worldwide. The agreement is expected to have a significant positive impact on designers, enabling them to protect their creations more effectively and uniformly across international markets.

At a press conference held on Friday to mark the event’s conclusion, CEO of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property Abdulaziz Al-Suwailem highlighted the economic potential of the new protocol.

Responding to a question from Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Suwailem noted the substantial contributions of young Saudi men and women in creative design. He explained that the agreement will enable their designs to be formally protected, allowing them to enter markets as valuable, tradable assets.

He also emphasized the symbolic importance of naming the convention the Riyadh Treaty, stating that it reflects Saudi Arabia’s growing influence as a bridge between cultures and a global center for innovative initiatives.

The treaty lays critical legal foundations to support designers and drive innovation worldwide, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s vision of promoting international collaboration in the creative industries and underscoring its leadership in building a sustainable future for innovators.

The agreement also advances global efforts to enhance creativity, protect intellectual property, and stimulate innovation on a broader scale.

This achievement further strengthens Saudi Arabia’s position as a global hub for groundbreaking initiatives, demonstrating its commitment to nurturing creativity, safeguarding designers’ rights, and driving the development of creative industries on an international scale.

The Riyadh Diplomatic Conference, held from November 11 to 22, was hosted by the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property and attracted high-ranking officials and decision-makers from WIPO member states.