Venezuela signs agreements with Chinese companies on water desalination

The Venezuelan government on Sunday signed agreements with six Chinese companies to install water desalination plants in the country's coastal regions.

The agreements envisage a three-stage process to fully achieve the best technical standards on water desalination, said Ricardo Menendez, minister of planning and knowledge.

The first stage includes the building of plants in the coastal states. The second stage is the development of service centers for Venezuela and some Caribbean countries and the third stage will cover research on water desalination.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was present at the signing in Venezuela's northern state of Vargas, said the plants will be the most modern ones in the continent. Endi