Steering gov’t committee to transfer SWCC’s assets to PIF’s Water Solutions: report

Logo of Saline Water Conversion Corporation  

Saudi Arabia will set up a steering committee of four government entities to overview and implement the asset transfer of Saline Water Conversion Corp. (SWCC) to the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) wholly-owned subsidiary, Water Solutions Co., Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter. 

The committee will be chaired by the Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture with the membership of the Minister of Finance, PIF Governor and SWCC Governor. 

The committee will be tasked with developing a mechanism for the asset transfer either through ownership transfer or a usufruct system. It will also overview the completion of the required financial, tax, commercial, technical and legal studies by the PIF and its subsidiary.

Moreover, the SWCC’s responsibility will be defined on all aspects with regard to the mechanism-matching assets and to non-transferred assets. SWCC is required to develop, in cooperation with the committee, a mechanism for the treatment of non-transferred assets within three years, the sources explained.

The committee will also study how to benefit from the SWCC’s capacities as an independent entity to define their future role on a strategic, supervisory or organization level within six months. Meanwhile, public-private partnerships will remain in effect in the water production, transmission and treatment systems, they added.

The Saudi Cabinet approved, on June 21, transferring entire assets of water production, transfer, and storage – which are directly or indirectly owned by SWCC to Water Solutions Co. or any of its subsidiaries.