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30 September 2003 - Saudi electricity and water authorities will call for tenders to build 21 water and electricity projects as part of ambitious privatisation drive, it was announced Monday. The move marks a break with state control over vital utilities and is intended to generate funds to service a large public debt.
Details of the tenders are expected to be revealed today during a regional conference on investment opportunities hosted by Riyadh's Chamber of Commerce, the executive director of the Saudi electricity company, Soliman Al-Qadi, told reporters.
Al-Qadi said 17 tenders will be offered to develop electricity generation and transmission facilities, including seven electricity generation plants worth 27bn riyals ($4.533bn) capable of providing 14 000 MW of electricity to different parts of the kingdom.
Water and Electricity Minister Ghazi Algosaibi said Sunday his ministry will announce details on a total of 21 electricity and water desalination projects, which have an estimated total value of SAR48 billion.
The call for private investors to construct water desalination, electricity generation and transmission facilities virtually ends decades of government monopoly in the state's utilities sector.
The government had endorsed a plan last November, to open up 20 vital sectors for local and foreign private investors. Areas opened up to the private sector include telecommunications, water desalination, air transport, airport services, construction and management of highways, seaport services and local oil refineries. Sectors in which foreigners still cannot invest include oil exploration and production, real-estate investments in Mecca and Medina, and the manufacture of military equipment and uniforms.
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