RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is to open the taps on its expertise in desalination and water technologies with the launch of a specialized international training program. The Saline Water Conversion Corp. revealed that more than 300 training programs in plant design and environment would be run at the Saudi Water Academy in Jubail. The courses will be available to individuals and organizations from around the world from Nov. 22. Training provided by the corporation will be based on scientific content related to the latest technological advances in the sector. More than 700 trainees will attend semesters for specialized engineers and technicians ranging from 18 to 75 training hours and between one and 24 months. Fawaz Al-Ghamdi, director general of the Saudi Water Academy, said: “The academy offers specialized programs with the latest technologies in the water industry, the most important of which is reverse osmosis techniques, in which Saudi Arabia made great strides years ago in terms of operation and maintenance.” Since its establishment in 1982, the academy has trained 63,050 people on 5,680 specialized training programs. He noted that the expanded training would ultimately benefit the water industry through reduced production costs. “Saudi Arabia ranks first in the world without a competitor in this industry, producing one-third of what the world produces of desalinated water per day, with a production of 5.9 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day,” Al-Ghamdi added. He pointed out that the academy had become one of the world’s most important scientific centers specialized in the water industry. It also runs courses on solar energy sciences and artificial intelligence technologies, under international license, holds several international accreditations, and has partnerships with major scientific organizations and universities around the globe. Al-Ghamdi said that the quality of training provided at the academy had helped toward 90 percent of its graduates obtaining jobs within six months.