RIYADH, 3 June 2004 — Saudization has taken on a new and welcome connotation among some local firms. In the beginning, the objective was mainly to employ as many Saudis as possible. Now companies have begun giving as many opportunities for advancement as possible to qualified Saudis.
“The sky is the limit for young, hardworking bright Saudis at Marconi. Many have taken over ably from their more senior and experienced colleagues whose experience and expertise we acknowledge and recognize,” Fadhil M. Al-Ibrahim, Marconi Middle East chairman and executive director, told Arab News recently.
Marconi is involved in the delivery of innovative and reliable optical networks, broadband routing and switching, broadband access technologies and related services. It is a leading supplier of public communication terminals ranging from traditional payphones to interactive terminals.
“Our Saudi staff are completely involved in all of our activities,” Al-Ibrahim said. The UK-based company has some 75 Saudis — about 25 percent of the total number of employees. “The high quality of Marconi’s products and services are due to the excellence of our staff. From our engineers and business consultants who create the solutions to our project management and field force who implement these, we have people who are proud of the reputation they have built for reliability and customer trust,” Al-Ibrahim said.
Marconi is not new to the Kingdom. “We can be traced back to 1930 during the reign of King Abdul Aziz. And we have been here continuously since then — an endorsement to the quality and reliability of our products, services and to the trust and excellent business relationships we have established throughout the Middle East,” Al-Ibrahim said.
These relationships are particularly strong in the delivery of services to the government and to the many telecom operators in the region. One area in which Marconi leads is in security. Al-Ibrahim said that Marconi understands that security is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It is a continuous process within an organization to meet its unique requirements and keep pace with threatening external forces.
“Our network security services are designed to eliminate many security-related issues facing customers,” he said. “We are proud of our achievements in planning, building and operating military and civil networks and of the praise we have received from our customers.”
The chairman pointed out that in the last two years, “Marconi has strengthened its commitment to the region, establishing regional offices in Saudi Arabia and Dubai.”
