On 23 January, Wetskills and Nama Water Services entered into an MoU for the next three years on ‘Collaborating on inspiring and capacitating young talents in water and sustainability from Oman’. The intention is to collaborate on organising Wetskills events in Oman, with Nama Water Services helping with expertise, participants, and cases. The aim is also to allow Omani participants to participate in Wetskills events outside Oman, such as the events in the Netherlands. The MOU partners will also look at how they can further develop and implement promising ideas with WetsNext, and bring and keep the Wetskills Alumni together as a community in Oman.
Wetskills and Nama Water Services have worked together several times in the past. This week Wetskills organised its fifth regular Wetskills event in Oman, the first of which took place during Queen Beatrix’s state visit to Oman in January 2012. Just under 100 Omani participants have taken part in various Wetskills events since then, mainly in the Netherlands and the MENA region. Local partners, such as Sultan Qaboos University as local host, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Oman, GUtech (German University of Technology in Oman), MEDRC (Middle East Desalination Research Center), and the Oman Water Society were also involved in the events.
Qais bin Saud Al Zakwani (CEO Nama Water Services) and Johan Oost (Managing Director Wetskills Foundation) signed the MoU witnessed by Ms. Stella Kloth (Ambassador of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to Oman). The Wetskills-Oman 2024 group and Wetskills Team members Marcel Rompelman and Ahmed Al Busaidi attended the signing ceremony as well. A special thanks to some of the Wetskills Alumni for joining the programme and a special thanks to Buthaina Al Wahaibi (Nama Water Services and Wetskills Alumni of Oman 2019 event) for supporting the development of this MoU between Nama and Wetskills.
As Johan Oost highlighted, “Wetskills has now formalized a partnership through an MoU to build on years of informal cooperation. The programs will bring together young talent from diverse backgrounds to develop innovative solutions for sustainable water management.” Nama Water Services: “We are grateful for Wetskills’ ongoing commitment to developing Omani water professionals and look forward to our continued collaboration. Events like Oman Water Week 2024 showcase how global cooperation can empower local progress. This partnership will continue enabling Oman’s brightest young minds to develop innovative and sustainable water solutions. We highly value Wetskills’ dedication to cultivating the next generation of water leaders. Collaborations like this exemplify the power of strategic alliances across borders to advance knowledge exchange!”
Read more:
- www.linkedin.com/posts/oman-water-week_strengthening-talent-development-partnerships-activity-7155530549057499136-l8dt/
- www.netherlandswaterpartnership.com/news/multiple-cooperation-agreements-signed-between-oman-and-dutch-water-sector
