http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&sid=aO5yU7j.6CUo&refer=special_report
Saudi Arabia to Allow Foreigners to Operate Water Companies By William McSheehy and Matthew Brown Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of oil, will allow foreign companies to participate in the state-run water industry for the first time this year, the finance minister said. The government plans to set up a new company to take over management of the water industry, taking control from the ministry of water and electricity, Ibrahim Abdel Aziz al-Assaf said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, today. ``Foreign companies will be able to participate in these services,'' al-Assaf said, without giving details. Saudi Arabia has embarked on a program of economic diversification, backed by government spending and foreign investment. It wants to cut its dependence on oil and gas, which accounted for more than half of the country's gross domestic product in 2005, according to central bank figures. Contracts will also be awarded to build, operate and then transfer back to the state three water desalination plants in Saudi Arabia this year, al-Assaf said today. A separate contract for a desalination plant near Jeddah in the west of the country, has already been awarded and construction is under way, he said. Saudi Arabia will sell $800 billion of assets to investors over the next 10 years, Arab News reported on Nov. 13, citing Abdul Wahab Al-Sadoun, director general of energy at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority. The opening of the water industry to foreign investors is one of three central goals for the asset-sale program this year, al- Assaf said today. A third mobile telephone license, and a second fixed-line license, will also be sold during the year. Saudi Arabian Airlines, the country's state-owned carrier, will also receive outside investment, al-Assaf added. Saudi Arabia is also opening the insurance industry to foreign ownership, al-Assaf said. There are now 16 foreign insurers licensed in the kingdom ``and more are coming,'' he said. More licenses may be awarded to foreign banks this year, he added. ``We face a big challenge of human resources for banking, stock market services and insurance and we need to deal with that now,'' al-Assaf said. To contact the reporters on this story: William McSheehy in Davos, Switzerland at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Matthew Brown in Dubai at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Last Updated: January 26, 2007 09:18 EST +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
