JEDDAH, 28 March 2004 — An academy to train and update air-conditioning technicians and engineers opens at LG Electronics in Riyadh today.
The academy, described as the first of its kind, will train Saudis and others in sessions running from two days to a week, Hassan Shaker, CEO of H.G. Ibrahim Shaker Company, the sole distributor of LG air conditioners, and H.Y. Nho, president of LG’s Korea-based air-conditioning division, told a joint press conference at InterContinental Hotel here yesterday.
The academy is located at the LG premises on King Fahd Road, with latest training facilities including audiovisual equipment and product samples.
Each session will have 10 to 20 trainees from the Shaker-LG operations and their Kingdomwide dealers.
“The idea is to train new technicians and update even the best of our engineers with new product knowledge,” Sol Bou-Nacklie, vice president at the H.G. Ibrahim Shaker Co., said.
Depending on the success of the academy, LG proposes to set up similar centers in Jeddah next year, followed by one in the Eastern Province.
LG, which introduced new models of air conditioners, is conducting a study in preparation for the introduction of religious and cultural paintings and other forms of artwork on the front panel of its Artcool air conditioners.
“This will make the front panel of Artcool air conditioners look like a piece of interior decoration that can blend with any decorative setup,” Nho said.
There is no proposal under LG’s consideration to establish an assembly plant in the Kingdom. “Our study shows, such a plant will cost 15 percent more and so not economically feasible,” he added. LG produces eight million pieces of air conditioners at its existing plants in the Far East and they are all cost-effective.
LG sold eight million air-conditioning units in 2003, “thus maintaining No. 1 position in the world for the fourth consecutive year.” This is attributed to quality, competitive prices and exclusive marketing techniques. “In fact, we doubled our sales in the past three years,” Nho said.
With 40 percent local market share of split air conditioners and 22 percent of window type units, LG hopes to establish its “absolute leadership” in the market, he said. “That’s our vision and we’ll achieve the target set for this year, with the summer demand expected to rise between April 15 and August-end,” Shaker said.
LG also announced the introduction of Enhanced Nano Plasma Technology that eliminates odors. “During the current year, we hope to bring our “By-pass” technology to enable air conditioners run under tropical conditions,” he said.