From April 23-26, 2013, at WASSER BERLIN INTERNATIONAL, for the first time the focus will be on the Middle East.
Founded in 2009, the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) will be the official partner of the fair. It represents 17 Arab countries. Its members are Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Oman and Yemen. The association is based in Amman in Jordan.
These countries not only have the same language in common, they are also faced with the same problems concerning water. Among these are a lack of resources while populations expand, emergent large conurbations, i.e. megacities, an inadequate infrastructure for water supplies and wastewater disposal, and the inability of water rates to recover costs, all this against a backdrop of high investment costs and a shortfall in specialist workers. These topics are the key focus of ACWUA.
Alongside the latest projects these are the topics that will be discussed at various forums and workshops during the fair. The association also plans to host a combined display of the Arab countries. Numerous high-ranking delegations will round off this collaboration.
“This partnership opens up new market opportunities for our exhibitors. German companies already maintain a wide range of business ties in Arab countries which need to be extensively developed”, says Cornelia Wolff von der Sahl, the project manager of WASSER BERLIN INTERNATIONAL.
In addition to companies representing all branches of the industry and the fair’s international dimension, the accompanying congress WASSER BERLIN INTERNATIONAL will also be of great benefit to ACWUA. The association regards itself as a regional platform for knowledge transfer and for advising on best practices. It offers its members a variety of training programs and hosts conferences such as the Arab Water Week in Amman.
The official registration deadline for exhibitors is Oct. 15, 2012.
