Bahrain ideal platform for Foreign Direct Investment: Urbaser
Manama : Urbaser, the Spanish multinational leader in waste management, has announced plans to make Bahrain its GCC hub.
The company, which commenced its operation in Bahrain on first July 2016, said, “The friendly and unbiased treatment we received as an international company has made us view Bahrain as an ideal foreign direct investment platform for future investments and developments.”
While affirming it is optimistic about positioning Bahrain as Middle East and Asian Headquarters, the company said the Kingdom would lead its growth in the MENA region.
Further, Urbaser, which achieved revenues of 1.63 billion euros in 2015, said it intends to turn Bahrain into a centre of excellence for research and development and modular plants in the global waste management field.
To this end, President of Urbaser Jose Maria said, “We have invested BD9.5 million in equipment, vehicles and workshop facilities in order to implement the most advanced systems in waste management. This includes the operation of a fleet of more than 200 vehicles, comprising innovative solar powered vehicles for park and garden cleaning.”
The company signed a five-year service contract with Bahrain for waste management on December 8, 2015. The agreement includes the collection of domestic waste, green waste, construction & demolition and bulky waste, in addition to manual and mechanical sweeping, street washing, bin and container maintenance, and beach and park cleaning in the Kingdom’s Northern and Southern municipalities.
‘SmartUS’ solution
Urbaser said it would implement its state of the art satellite positioning system “SmartUS’ in Bahrain.
The system, according to the company, will assist it to plan and monitor works, and ensure maximum efficiency by collecting information about the position of vehicles and bins, and the weight of collection vehicles.
Currently, Urbaser said it is developing a model platform for collection and waste management in the Kingdom and is focused on the selection and training of its 1,400 employees; 200 of whom are Bahraini nationals.
Urbaser will also be launching a comprehensive social awareness campaign and waste management educational programme that will target the Kingdom’s schools in order to promote recycling and waste management in the home.
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Plans to make Bahrain GCC hub
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Kingdom to lead MENA growth
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Invested BD9.5 million in equipment
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Operates a fleet of more than 200 vehicles
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To implement SmartUS
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To train 200 Bahraini nationals
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To launch social awareness campaign
Beating challenges
Commenting on the issue, President of Urbaser Jose Maria said, “At the onset of our services, Urbaser faced a number of challenges. These included a lack of support from the previous contractor, which created substantial waste accumulation, in addition to challenging terrain.”
The company, however, said it has managed to bring the situation under control in record time, although it used substantial resources.
This, according to the company, was realized with the support of the ministry here.
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