According to Yonhap News,
(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea and Jordan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand cooperation in water management in the Middle Eastern country that is made up of 90 percent arid desert, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday.
"We expect the MOU will serve as the occasion for South Korean companies to make inroads into Jordan to help solve the water shortage and other projects there," a ministry official said. "Jordan has plans for investment of up to US$30 billion in the development of electricity, water resources, transportation and other infrastructure by 2025."
The MOU was signed between the ministry and Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation on the sidelines of the Arab Water Week 2017 at a resort along the Dead Sea in Jordan. The main theme at the gathering this week is the "Managing Water Systems within Fragile Environments in the Arab Region."
South Korea plans to cooperate with Jordan in the establishment of a smart water grid, including the building of desalination plants.
The smart water grid is about building and systemizing dams and desalination plants for the effective management of both underground water and sea water.
The ministry has already filed applications with Jordan's six provincial governments for the export of the smart water grid.
South Korean firms are also considering joining the $1 billion project for the desalination of water in the Dead Sea and funneling the desalinated water either into factories and households or back into the Dead Sea.
This undated file photo is GS E&C's hybrid SWRO-PRO system connected to a desalination plant to reduce the overall cost of making fresh water from sea water. (Yonhap)
hdh@yna.co.kr
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Source: Yonhap News (Mar. 19, 2017)