RIYADH, 7 November 2006 — The Alfaisaliah Group (AFG), one of the top 100 companies in the Kingdom, is exploring the possibility of establishing its presence in one of the economic cities being developed under the initiative of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
We are working closely with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) in identifying the investment opportunities in the less developed regions of the Kingdom, Prince Mohammed ibn Khaled A. Al-Faisal, president of AFG, told Arab News. He said the Alfaisaliah Group, as a regional company, was always looking at investment opportunities and expansion is on our mind.
Prince Mohammed added that while the government was striving to remove bottlenecks from the path of investors, a few still remained. They include removing bureaucratic hurdles in terms of starting new business, easing restrictions on export/import business, and overhauling the legal system.
In terms of paper work involved, the number of signatures that you have to obtain is still large compared to the world average. All we have to do is to press the accelerator to speed up the pace of reforms.
He was speaking on the occasion of Sony’s launch of a new high definition TV (Bravia) as part of its strategic move to strengthen its presence in the Kingdom’s electronic market estimated at over SR2 billion and growing annually at three to four percent.
Sony TV’s high-definition Bravia brand, which has been launched in the Saudi and UAE markets, come in panel sizes ranging from 70-inch to compact 26-inch screen. These brands are available on zero interest installment basis for customers having co-branded Sony-Samba credit card.
In his speech at the launch ceremony, Prince Mohammed said Modern Electronics Co. Ltd, founded by Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal in 1970, has grown from a staff of three and a turnover of SR2 million to over 450 employees and an annual turnover of around SR1 billion. Today we lead the Saudi Arabian consumer electronics market, with more than 40 percent market share — which is a truly remarkable achievement to be proud of.
Quoting a recent worldwide survey covering more than 17,000 consumers in 18 countries, he said Sony emerged as the most popular consumer electronics brand beating 15 leading international consumer electronics manufacturers.
Speaking on behalf of Modern Electronics Co. Ltd. (MECL), Bader Al-Swailem, general manager, Modern Electronics Co. Ltd (MECL), a subsidiary of the Al Faisaliah Group Holding Co. Ltd, said: “Bravia has several achievements to its credit, the biggest of which has been its role in creating the demand for LCD TVs. Without a doubt, Bravia’s successful debut last year established the LCD TV as well as the flat panel TV market in general here in Saudi Arabia.”
Speaking on the new offering from Sony, Masahiro Miura, general manager, Pan-Asia CTV operations, said: E-SONY is reinforcing its commitment to Bravia. Considerable investments have been made in production facilities to meet consumer demand, including parallel investments in R&D to maintain Bravia’s edge as the leading flat panel TV in the world.
In his presentation, Takuzo Fujimoto, general manager (sales & marketing) for Sony products in the Kingdom, said: With such a strong and extensive offering including the ultimate display device, the X-Series and the SXRD models, I am confident that Bravia will continue to shape the future of the LCD market here in Saudi Arabia.