An international congress on desalination is being organised by TechnoPark, the technology arm of Economic Zones World, in collaboration with the International Desalination Association (IDA) from November 7 to 12 in Dubai.

The 'International Desalination World Congress, Dubai 2009', will be held under the slogan 'Desalination for a Better World'.

The organising committee comprises officials from different government and social organisations, which includes Dubai Police; Department of Naturalization & Residency; Dubai Health Authority; Dubai Convention Bureau; Dubai International Airport, and media organisations, as well as officials from TechnoPark and Economic Zones World.

“This IDA conference will tackle a number of vital and strategic issues at a time when water resources are becoming critical worldwide. We have to cement all our efforts in the promotion and exchange of expertise to secure water resources to avert any water crisis around the world,” stated Ibrahim Al Janahi, chief commercial officer of Economic Zones World.

“Water is one of our most precious natural resources, and we need to draw up plans and policies to protect it for future generations. We hope this conference will contribute towards our goal of realizing sustainable development of our water resources and foster international cooperation for the development of newer and more efficient water desalination and treatment technologies for the benefit of all,” added Hamad Al Hashemi, managing director, Dubai Institute of Technology - TechnoPark.

The conference will be attended by more than 1,800 representatives of desalination technology end-users, manufacturers and suppliers, governments, consultants, researchers, investors and academic institutions.

The congress will feature five days of technical sessions, lectures, roundtable discussions, 27 interactive sessions and workshops that will discuss some 350 scientific papers. A concurrent exhibition will showcase 70 companies from 20 countries displaying the latest water desalination equipment and technology.

The UAE is the world’s second largest producer of desalinated water, processing 8.4 million cubic meters of seawater into potable water per day, 95 per cent of which is consumed locally.

Although the Middle East is home to more than 5 per cent of the world’s population, it has only 1 per cent of the global renewable fresh water resources and depends on desalination as its most important source of fresh water.-TradeArabia News Service