MUTAZ GHANDOUR
Born in Lebanon, Mutaz Ghandour is the chairman and CEO of Metito and is widely recognized around the world for his pioneering role in the global water treatment industry.
2018 is turning out to be yet another remarkable year for Metito, the company which Mutaz Ghandour and his brother, Farouk Ghandour, founded almost sixty years ago. In April, the company won two prestigious awards at the Global Water Awards ceremony, part of the 2018 Global Water Summit that took place at the Pavillond’ Armenonville in Paris,France.
Metito won the “Water Deal of the Year” for the Kigali Bulk Water Supply project in Rwanda, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa procured through public-private partnership. Awarded in
2014 after an international competitive bid, the project will provide 40 million liters a day of safe, clean water covering 40 percent of Kigali’s water needs and improving the lives of over one million people. Metito also won a distinction award as the “Desalination Company of the Year” for spearheading the development of large-scale water desalination in Egypt by building the country’s largest ever plant at Al Yosr and securing contracts to supply two more large-scale installations. With desalination being relied on to future-proof Egypt’s water security and also avert a possible diplomatic crisis with its Nile neighbors, Metito’s success has also had a positive political impact far beyond the field of water supply. In May, the Kigali Bulk Water Supply project added wo more coveted titles to its portfolio of awards. The project was awarded the ‘Best Utilities Project” and the “Grand Prix”’ at the Partnerships Awards 2018 in London which recognize and reward the best in public-private partnerships Finally, in June, the Board of Directors of the International Desalination Association (IDA) invited Ghandour, who has been recognized by Global
Water Intelligence as the longest serving CEO in the global water industry and himself a former IDA Director, to become a member of the IDA’s Honorary Council and an IDA Ambassador
in recognition of his extensive industry expertise, outstanding contribution to the water sector and for his service to the IDA over the years. The aim of the Council is to leverage the wealth of knowledge and experience of its members to fulfil the IDA’s mission around the world and its commitment to encourage research, promote and exchange communication, disseminate information, and support education in the field of desalination and water sciences. IDA is a non-profit association associated with the United Nations and part of a growing international
network of non-governmental organizations. The IDA Honorary Council will be balanced by regional representation from five regions: Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa, North America, and Asia and the Pacific. “There is a lot more that can be done” Ghandour says“and I am confident that with the new IDA leaders more can be achieved especially through integrating with other organizations to widen the reach and exposure of its mission and the critical knowledge its experts have to share. Water scarcity is not an industry issue but an issue of general and global importance and I hope the IDA Honorary Council can add shared value on this front’ According to the World Health Organization, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas by 2025. The United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization have reported that almost 663 million people lack access to an improved water source. These numbers can get worse with rising populations, urbanization and industrialization and with lack of sufficient knowledge among consumers about water scarcity, the importance of safe
water access
and the prospects of conflicts pertaining to water security. With 60 years of experience, Metito is today at the forefront of the world’s water and wastewater industry with an impressive project portfolio that includes over 3,000 projects in more than 46 countries most of which are in the most arid regions in the world. It has strategically located offices with over 2,500
experienced employees. The company manages 34 concessions and long term O&M contracts and manages a total installed capacity of over a million m3/day in its China concessions alone.
Beside the Ghandour family, other key shareholders include Mitsubishi Corporation, the International Finance Corporation and Gulf Capital. But it’s not just about the business. Corporate social
responsibility is close to Ghandour’s heart This year, in the lead up to World Water Day on March 22, Metito as part of its CSR program which primarily targets school and university students continued to promote the importance of information dissemination and knowledge transfer on water scarcity, water safety and security. Through this program, Metito hosts workshops,
presentations and site visits where students are introduced to the latest water statistics and the concept of water recycling and reuse, challenging youth to improve the water situation in their
country of residence and around the world by changing their personal water consumption habits. “We believe knowledge is the most effective driver to bring about positive change” says
Ghandour. “Tapping into the youth, their unrestricted thinking space and fresh energy, is the focal point to our CSR agenda,” Metito also partnered with Planet Water Foundation, a leading non-profit organization that addresses global water poverty by delivering clean water access and hygiene education programs, to construct and deploy a clean water filtration system in Indonesia.
Metito employees in Jakarta volunteered to join the team at Montong Tangi, a rural village located on the island of Lombok where contaminated wells posed a threat to the community
In the GCC, Metito organized educational trips for students and teachers from Dubai’s Nord Anglia School, Hartland International School and India’s SIES College-Mumbai, showcasing the GCC’s first wastewater concession at Dubai Investment Park as an exemplar project for water recycling and reuse. Metito also organized a ‘Bring Your Kids to DIP’ special event for its employees to further promote the concept among their families. In June 2017, Ghandour was appointed as a United Nations goodwill ambassador in the fight against malnutrition, another cause which is close to his heart “The eradication of malnutrition necessitates the provision of a healthy food intake, which primarily consists of water” he explains. “This makes the cause a very relevant one to Metito”