TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, February 21. Emirati Metito company aims to support Uzbekistan’s efforts to secure sustainable quality water to the citizens, a source from the company told Trend.
“Uzbekistan is a strategic market for Metito and we look forward to expanding our reach as we see massive potential for long term investments here. We are here to form long-term partnerships. Metito will mobilize its vast resources to develop impactful projects and optimum operations,” said the company.
The company focuses on developing impactful water reuse projects and decreasing water losses in the pipeline networks. This will mainly be done through working closely with Uzbekistan and local stakeholders to pioneer Public Private Partnership projects in the water and wastewater industry - in line with Metito’s continued success in introducing the model in over 8 countries globally.
According to the source, the infrastructure projects are capital intensive and there is finance gap that needs to be closed to meet the growing needs. The Public Private Partnership concept is still new and time is required to structure such pioneering projects, especially having involved many Uzbek stakeholders (different bodies, private sector players, lenders, consultants, etc).
In addition, there is a clear need to modernize and/or reconstruct aging water infrastructure to secure sustainable water supply and address the increasing water scarcity in the whole Central Asia Region.
Metito will bring in investments and state-of-the-art technology and water management systems to Uzbekistan's local market with a strong commitment to impact, sustainability, and innovation, and pursuing highest global standards of quality, health, safety and environmental specifications.
“We have ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) goals and our QHSSE (Quality, Health, Safety, Security, and Environment) Policy is aligned with it. We also strive to effectively implement local environmental protection regulations in our projects, optimize energy use, and use greener technologies,” the source noted.
The company also complies with the International Finance Corporation’s (a key shareholder of Metito) environmental & social policy requirements.