French firm ties up with Dharmala

French firm ties up with Dharmala

MANILA (AFP): France's Compagnie Generale des Eaux (CGdE), one of the world's four largest water utilities, signed a joint venture agreement yesterday with a local affiliate of Indonesia's Dharmala group, an official said.

Under the agreement, Dharmala Philippines Inc. will provide technical and financial advice to CGdE in preparation for the upcoming privatization of the state-run water utility, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), said Dharmala Philippines Chief executive officer Alan Ortiz.

CGdE has an estimated US$33 billion in sales worldwide for 1995.

Dharmala Philippines is 60 percent Filipino-owned and 40 percent owned by various foreign firms.

Details of the MWSS privatization strategy conducted by the World Bank's International Finance Corp. are to be released next week, Ortiz said, adding that the signing of the agreement with CGdE will "start the ball rolling."

The bid for the MWSS, which services some 10 million residents in metropolitan Manila, is the largest water utility privatization project in the world under consideration, informed sources said.