One firm may The Asian Development Bank meeting proved successful -- and likely profitable -- for local company Safe Water Systems LLC.
see effort pay off
Safe Water Systems starts into
doing business with the Asian
Development Bank
By Lyn Danninger
Star-Bulletin
The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the ADB that should eventually lead to contracts with the organization in East Timor and the Indonesian province of West Timor, said Safe Water President Will Hartzell.
The memorandum is the first step taken before being awarded a technical assistance grant to develop a larger proposal for the ADB.
Safe Water, headquartered at the Manoa Innovation Center, produces a solar-powered water pasteurizer. The device, which uses the sun's energy to cleanse harmful bacteria from water, has application in the small towns and villages of Asia and the Pacific where finding and maintaining a clean water source can be a daily battle. The company's business so far has been with service organizations and non-profits.
Safe Water has teamed up with Pacmar Inc., another local company with ADB experience. The company's president, Puongpun Sananikone, is a former ADB staffer with an international background who has held more than a dozen contracts with ADB over the years.
Hartzell said the first step will be to obtain the grant to develop the larger ADB proposal.
Safe Water will handle the technical aspects of the contract proposal while Pacmar does the direct interaction with the ADB during the process, Hartzell said.
It's too early to say how much a contract with the ADB could be worth, Hartzell said. But the initial technical assistance grant should probably be worth around $150,000. It is used to cover the company's costs while the contract proposal is being developed.
Even when the proposal is finally submitted, it will still have to go through a competitive bidding process under ADB rules, Hartzell said. But given the unique nature of the device and the few companies who produce anything like it, Safe Water's bidding process could be shorter, he said.
Since the solar water pasteurizer has wide application, Hartzell said, it is likely that the first contract for East and West Timor could be followed by others.
"It could be ongoing, so we would identify any ADB projects where we could fit in," he said.
Hartzell credits the conference with making it possible for his company to do business with the ADB.
"The difference for us was meeting people face to face," he said.
Asian Development Bank