Muscat – The Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR), in cooperation with the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), organised an event called Independent Water Regulation Forum in Salalah on Tuesday.

Its opening ceremony was held under the auspices of H H Sayyid Marwan Turki al Said, Governor of Dhofar, with participation of GCC countries, government agencies and civil society organisations of Oman.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Dr Mansour bin Talib al Hinai, Chairman of APSR, said the two-day forum aims to shed light on the experiences of GCC countries in the field of water sector regulation and quality management. He emphasised the importance of raising the efficiency and performance of the water sector and the best ways of sustainable water management.

The forum also aims to identify successful experiences in GCC countries and contribute to raising the level of services provided to consumers, while keeping pace with future aspirations in the sector.

Talib added that Oman has made numerous efforts in the field of independent regulation of the water sector, enforcing rules and regulations that ensure the proper management and governance of this sector to achieve the goals of Oman Vision 2040.

He also noted that all these steps are aimed at keeping pace with the growing demand of water in the sultanate and achieve quality of services provided to consumers, while maximising APSR’s regulatory and developmental role.

On the sidelines of the forum, Khalid bin Ali al Sunaidi, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs at the Secretariat General of the GCC, said, “The forum will discuss 13 working papers distributed over four main themes – experiences of GCC countries in the field of water sector regulation, water quality management, raising efficiency and performance of the water sector, and sustainable water management.

“The forum will also highlight important issues such as innovative technologies to reduce water loss and improve quality in order to save water.”