Saudi Arabian Water Minister meets the Minister for Economic Affairs (retd) Walter Hirche at V-LINE in Sehnde
Sehnde/Lower Saxony, 23.03.2009
Following his participation in the fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, His Excellency, Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman al-Hussayen, the Minister of Water and Electricity from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, arrived for business talks at the V-LINE EUROPE Export Marketing GmbH in Sehnde on Monday, 23rd March 2009.
The mid-sized business group has been very strongly engaged in the Near and Middle East for many years; Detlev Daues, CEO of V-LINE and Minister Al-Hussayen have known one another since the beginning of the 1980’s. The previous Lower-Saxony’s Minister for Economic Affairs Walter Hirche (FDP), initiator of the “Arabian Initiative” to intensify the economic relationships with the Arabic countries, used the opportunity to exchange information with Al-Hussayen at the V-LINE‘s registered offices in Sehnde.
A change of thinking regarding water usage is called for
Both politicians were agreed in their opinion that water will become more important than petroleum in the future. In order to avoid armed conflict, the fair and sustainable use of worldwide water resources is vital; development of innovative technologies to process water accorded greater priority. A more sparing use of the ever more precious water resources is also called for: “Our declared purpose is to reduce the per capita use in Saudi Arabia to that of Germany in the foreseeable future”, explained Minister Al-Hussayen. This, however, cannot be achieved with just water saving technology alone; a changing in thinking in all levels of society must be achieved through appropriate information and awareness training. At the moment, the private per capita use in Saudi Arabia lies at around 260 l a day, more than double the amount we use in this country.
Hirche: Lower Saxony also a future partner in the Arab world
Ex-Minister for Economic Affairs Walter Hirche, emphasised the many years of intensive cooperation between Lower Saxony and the countries of the Arab world: “We are looking forward to also being able to play a future part using know-how from Lower Saxony to complete the demands ahead in the Near and Middle East”, said Hirche and referred to the cooperation with the Deutsche Messe AG’s established representative of the new promotion company for foreign trade Niedersachsen Global GmbH (NGlobal) in Dubai/United Arab Emirates as well as the planned delegation visit in May under the leadership of the Economic State Secretary, Stefan Kapferer to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
The world’s economic crisis has also left its mark on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The hesitant granting of loans would lead to the financing of private projects becoming more expensive which has an impeding impact on the process of privatisation set into effect in Saudi Arabia towards the end of the 1990’s, according to Minister Al-Hussayen. Also the construction of new desalination plants to process seawater would still be financed by state means again.
In the evening, the V-LINE’s CEO Detlev Daues invited Al Hussayen to meet with Lower Saxony’s Minister for Environment and Climate Protection Hans Heinrich Sander (FDP), the NGlobals Managing Director Gerhard Gizler as well as Dr. Volker Müller, Chief Executive of the Lower Saxony’s Trade Association and Ralf Othmer, Managing Director of the State of Lower Saxony’s Management Academy (Deutschen Management Akademie Niedersachsen (DMAN)) for an informal dinner. Leading employees of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Water and Electricity have, for some time, already taken part in DMAN special programmes concerning reservoir dam and wastewater technology.
About V-LINE
The V-LINE group of companies was founded in 1979 and has its group headquarters in Sehnde near Hanover, Germany. It is one of the most important global providers of original spare parts direct from the manufacturer to industrial plants, working with more than 20,000 suppliers. The use of original parts guarantees optimal handling and the longest possible equipment service life. The use of the innovative E-procurement-solution V-Ware™ ensures considerably less transaction and procurement costs and guaranteed transit times, and regular collective dispatches keep storage needs to a minimum. V-LINE, in addition to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, has operations in Japan, China, Mexico, Brazil and the USA. For further information please visit V-LINE’s website at: www.v-line.com or call by phone—Saudi Arabia: +966 (3) 3407940, EMEA: +49 (5138) 7008, USA: +1-732-493-1400, Japan: +81 (66) 675 3001, Brazil: +55 (11) 66712958, China: +86 (10) 84920049, Mexico: +52 (2222) 536396.
