PARIS, October 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A 25-year public-private
partnership agreement for water services with Qingdao
    In the presence of Jacques Chirac, the President of France, and Mr. Hu
Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, on October 7 SUEZ
Chairman and CEO, Gerard Mestrallet, signed a new public-private partnership
agreement for water services with Qingdao local authority. The contract
provides for the construction and the operation during 25-year of a new
drinking water plant. Qingdao Sino French Water Co., which already operates
urban water services for over 2 million people in Qingdao, will handle the
plant's operation. SUEZ' subsidiary Degremont will build the drinking water
plant.
    A 30-year industrial waste contract in Shanghai
    The Group will also be building and operating an incineration plant to
treat industrial waste at the SCIP (Shanghai Chemical Industry Park) chemical
and industrial facility. This new contract, for an initial period of thirty
years, will generate estimated total revenues of EUR 600 million. The Group
has been active at this site since 2001 when SUEZ created a joint venture
company with SCIP DC (Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park Development
Corporation) to manage a 50-year contract for the production of industrial
process water and the treatment of all of the Park's industrial effluents.
    A partnership agreement with the University of Tongji
    In addition, Monday, October 11, at the occasion of Jacques Chirac's
visit to the University of Tongji, Professor Wan Gang, President of the
University of Tongji, and Gerard Mestrallet signed a partnership agreement
for 2004-2008. Under the agreement SUEZ will provide scholarships for
students studying for their Master's Degree in "Science and Technologies,
Environmental Engineering program : water, soil and waste management and
treatment programs" developed by the Franco-Chinese Institute of Engineering
and Management (IFCIM) at the University of Tongji in Shanghai. This
agreement is part of the partnership developed between the University of
Tongji and IFCIM created in 1999 by Paris Tech (an association of leading
engineering schools in the Paris region) of which SUEZ is a founding member.
SUEZ is a member of IFCIM's Supervisory Board and will designate a
representative to the Master's Degree Program's Scientific Council.
    Gerard Mestrallet said << China is an important growth driver for the
Group. This country today offers a stable and recurring economic development
opportunity. The contracts we just signed are consistent with our
profitability criteria and are directly linked to the economic development of
the country.
    SUEZ has been active in China, Macao and Hong Kong for over thirty years,
where it provides companies and public authorities innovative solutions in
Energy and Environment through strong, long-term partnerships lasting 20 to
50 years. This is a high-priority area for SUEZ, where it generates total
annual revenues in excess of EUR 400 million. Today, close to 20% of China's
urban population (some 250 million people) is being served by water treatment
plants designed and built by Degremont.
    Since the mid-1980s SUEZ also operates drinking water facilities for 16
Chinese municipalities and close to 12 million people. Since that same time,
the Group produces and distributes electricity and drinking water and
provides waste services management for Macao. Lastly, since the end of the
1980s, the Group operates two of the world's largest and most modern
landfills at Hong Kong.
    SUEZ (http://www.suez.com) is a worldwide industrial and services Group, active
in sustainable development, providing companies, municipalities, and
individuals innovative solutions in Energy and the Environment. SUEZ is
listed on the Euronext Paris, Euronext Brussels, Luxembourg, Zurich and New
York Stock Exchanges and supports Paris as the site for the 2012 Olympic
Games.
    Disclaimer
    This press release contains certain forward-looking statements,
particularly with respect to future events, trends, plans or objectives.
These statements are based on management's current views and assumptions and
involve a number of risks and uncertainties which may lead to a significant
difference between actual results and those suggested either explicitly or
implicitly in these statements (or suggested by past results). Additional
information about these risks and uncertainties appears in documents filed by
SUEZ with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Autorite des
Marches Financiers (French securities regulator). The present forward-looking
statements are made as of the date of the present release, with no
undertaking by SUEZ to update or revise them, whether in connection with new
information, future events, or any other factor.
    This release is also available on the Internet: http://www.suez.com

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