The seven-year contract is the first as part of the Kingdom’s plan to privatize the sector, attract foreign investment RIYADH: A consortium led by France’s Saur Group has been awarded the first contract under Saudi Arabia’s plans to privatize its water infrastructure sector. The contract to manage the North West Cluster facility, which supplies the cities of Medina and Tabuk, is initially for seven years but could be extended to 25. The consortium also includes Saudi Arabia’s Miahona and the Manila Water Company from the Philippines. The contract was signed in Riyadh on Thursday at a ceremony attended by Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen A. AlFadley, Saudi Arabia"s minister for the environment, water and agriculture, Ludovic Pouille, the French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and Emmanuel Vivant, senior executive vice-president international, Saur Group. This is the first contract to be awarded by the National Water Company (NWC), the government agency responsible for this flagship program, and is an integral part of the Vision 2030 program to open its economy to foreign investors. The contract includes management of 15,000 km of water pipeline networks, 50 drinking water production plants, 10 wastewater treatment plants and 622 boreholes. The agreement will help improve the lives of 3.5 million people living in a service area, which includes the holy sites of Madinah and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of AlUla.