Saudi International Conference for Water Technology 2011 was inaugurated here today by Prince Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, Vice President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) for Research Institutes, on behalf of the City's President Dr Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel, in the presence of the Minister of Water and Electricity Eng. Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al-Hossein. Addressing the Conference organized by the City, Prince Dr. Turki considered research, development and investment in water technologies as a strategic choice for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to the lack of traditional water sources, the high costs of their conservation as well as the high costs of water desalination and treatment. He pointed out that King Abdullah Initiative for Water Desalination By Solar Energy, which has been one of the fruits of the national policy for science, technology and innovation, aimed at finding technical solutions for water desalination at low costs to contribute to supporting the national economy, noting the development of advanced technologies through Joint Center for Research on Nanotechnology between the field of solar energy systems and membranes for water desalination . Prince Dr. Turki added that the work is currently underway to establish the largest water desalination plant by solar energy in the world in the city of Khafji with a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters per day as a first stage of the initiative which is expected to be completed in 1434 AH.