The international exhibition and conference, originally scheduled for last year, was held from 14-17 June 2021. After more than a year of digital and online event organisation, the best of the international water industry was able to gather in Cairo with a real, physical presence as the pandemic subsided. The event offered an exclusive platform for exhibitors, visitors, service providers and industry players, focusing on the most important issues and innovations in water and wastewater treatment.
Renowned national water professionals also attended the event for partner and project research. Mr. Bálint Horváth, Managing Director of Pureco represented our company at the EXPO and played an active role at the workshop organised by Hungarian Water Partnership on the second day. The event was held on 15 June, was a half-day workshop in the spirit of deepening the Hungarian-Egyptian water partnership, which ended with the participation of nearly one hundred participants from the field and online, sharing useful knowledge and experiences. We were delighted that the event was opened by the Ambassador of Hungary to Egypt, Mr. András Kovács, followed by the opening remarks of Mr. Hossam Farid, Head of Allweiler-Farid Hassanein Pumps Company. Mr. Gábor Jenei, Deputy Managing Director of the co-organizer HEPA, welcomed the participants in the online space, and last, but not least, Mr. Zoltán Horváth, Managing Director of HWP Nonprofit Ltd. and moderator of the event, closed the event with opening remarks.
Taking full advantage of all the new technological possibilities, the live, partly on-site, partly online presentations began. Péter Kovács, Director of Water Management and Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, presented the current situation and development trends of water cooperation between Hungary and Egypt, followed by Károly Kovács, President of the Hungarian Water and Sewage Technology Association (MaSzeSz), who spoke about sustainable, cost-effective water industry development. The focus of his presentation was on the importance of project preparation, the indispensability of variance analyses, the importance of calculating life-cycle costs rather than investment costs. Bálint Horváth from Pureco gave a live presentation on wastewater treatment innovations at the conference venue. In his presentation, he presented the recently completed and successful wastewater treatment project, in Ghana. He highlighted the unique attributes of the project such the 100% sewerless environment in the municipality (Kumasi).
Afterwards, several more experts spoke about the latest water treatment technologies and innovations, such as the Puraid complex water treatment system for small communities. This pallet-sized unit based on modular units with a capacity of 6-10m3/day, ideal for treating contaminated drinking water in small communities and isolated areas. Several other Hungarian water companies presented their state-of-the-art technological innovations and methods. The speakers were rounded off by Balázs Koczka, Senior Relationship Manager of EXIM Bank, who outlined the financing options offered by the bank.
With a large number of live and online participants, the half-day event was successfully closed as a gap-filling event after the long silence caused by the coronavirus epidemic. We are pleased that, in addition to the workshop, there was an intense interest in Hungarian expertise and water solutions during the three-day trade exhibition, both from the North African country and from other professionals. At the Watrex we as Pureco had a great opportunity to strengthen our external relations. Furthermore, we proved that Hungarian water industry is at the forefront of finding sustainable solutions and offering innovative technologies at an affordable price to its partners.
