Omani water utility inks deal with Salalah Free Zone

Wholly state-owned Majis Industrial Services (MIS) signs MOU to explore opportunities to provide water services to meet SFZ’S diverse requirements

Majis Industrial Services (MIS), the Sultanate’s leading water utility, has signed an agreement to provide integrated water solutions to Salalah Free Zone.

An MOU to this effect was inked by officials representing the two sides on Thursday.

Asyad’s Free Zones-salalah said in a post that the MOU will “explore opportunities to establish a partnership to provide integrated water services in Salalah Free Zone, including production of drinking water, ultra-pure water, industrial water treatment and high efficiency wastewater recycling”.

The move comes as Salalah Free Zone continues to pull in a wide variety of industrial, petrochemical and manufacturing-related investments that will require the services of a one-stop water utility with expertise spanning the spectrum of industrial water requirements.

The pact also represents an important success for wholly government-owned MIS — a subsidiary of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) — in its efforts to expand its geographical reach beyond its current operational mandate centring on Sohar Port, to other industrial and economic zones in the Sultanate.

Set up in 2006 at the outset of Sohar Port’s establishment on the Batinah coast, Majis has evolved over the years to become an integrated provider of water solutions that are indispensable to the daily operations of industries and petrochemical projects located in the port and adjoining free zone.

The utility currently provides five types of water services to customers in the industrial port area: potable drinking water, process water, effluent management, irrigation water, and industrial cooling water.

Two years ago, Majis signed an agreement with the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) for the supply of potable water to the latter’s Suhar Industrial City. Earlier, Majis set up a joint venture with Spanish hydro-technology firm Aqualia to manage and operate its expansive and diverse water services in Sohar Port.

The JV, named Oman Sustainable Water Services SAOC, was granted a 20-year contract to operate and maintain the seawater intake plants, drinking and process water systems, the cooling water network, and other components.

Also expected to underpin Majis’ growth strategy is its partnership with Dubai-based Utico, the largest private utility services provider in the Middle East with interests spanning power and water production, wastewater treatment, and renewable and alternative energy solutions.

Under a deal concluded in 2019, Majis acquired a minority stake in Utico – a move that will help the Omani utility tap into the prodigious expertise of the latter.