AquaSwiss targets MENA desal business

Having acquired exclusive rights to use IDE’s thermal desalination technologies in selected jurisdictions in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, Swiss-based AquaSwiss AG is now actively out seeking business opportunities.

CEO Sanjeev Varma told GWI that the initial focus will be on the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – all regions previously inaccessible to IDE for political reasons. The company currently has half a dozen proposals in the pre-tender phase, and is targetting a trio of different client bases.

AquaSwiss will look to sell to water ministries at the national level, as well as to upstream and downstream applications in the oil and gas industry, and to small private enterprises which require a water supply. Varma indicated that AquaSwiss is happy to bid on its own or as the desal sub-contractor within a consortium, and that it is open to long-term BOT-type structures as well as traditional EPC contracts.