More than 200 of the leading movers and shakers from the region’s pressured utilities sector are set to gather in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, to discuss the issues and opportunities as the burgeoning infrastructure and rising population make constant demands on supply (March 25 -26, 2007).
MEED’s Middle East Power & Water 2007 is in its fourth year and spotlights power and water supply across the Middle East.
This year’s event is said to have received tremendous response with the speaker-delegate line-up (shown on the website www.meed.com/power) naming the region’s top utilities players plus key government figures, including the UAE’s Minister of Environment & Water, His Excellency Dr Muhammed Al Kindi.
Al Kindi is to give the opening address to his regional compatriots including ministry representatives from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
According to the conference organiser and editorial director of MEED, Edmund O’Sullivan, the utilities sector is again under deserving scrutiny as the region’s on-going construction boom looks set to continue pace for the next five to ten years.
“Demand for upgraded, new and sustainable power and water is a hot topic throughout the Middle East, fuelled by the region’s burgeoning economies and growing population.
“We will table these issues and urge those in the driving seats to share what has been approved and what is in the pipeline,” said O’Sullivan.
According to O’Sullivan, the current utilities infrastructure would have found itself under pressure even without the estimated US$14 billion worth of real estate projects on the drawing board in the GCC alone.
“Current figures show that that real estate projects in Dubai worth a minimum of $90 billion are either under construction or in development stages.
“Other figures show that around $150 billion is currently being spent on development in the GCC, with at least another 10 per cent in the wings.
“This in turn is creating a huge pressure on traditional public utilities, in addition to the cry from environmentalists for new and sustainable energies,” O’Sullivan concluded.
