RIYADH, 30 January 2008 — General Electric Company (GE), the $173 billion diversified technology giant, will support Saudi Arabian Airlines’ ambitious plan to launch overhaul services of engines, which will finally lead to the building of a new state-of-the-art facility at the Jeddah-based King Abdul Aziz Airport within the next 18 months, Jeffrey R. Immelt, GE’s board chairman & chief executive officer, said here yesterday during a press conference.
Under the agreement, valued at about $1.4 billion, GE will supply materials to the Kingdom’s national carrier for 14 years from the start of the new overhaul facility. Immelt said “the new state-of-the-art facility would serve the Kingdom, the Middle East and Africa regions, where our cumulative revenue has gone up by 45 percent to $8 billion in 2006.”
He also presented the company’s growth strategies for Saudi Arabia and gave an overview of GE’s operations worldwide with special reference to its presence in the Middle East. Predicting to generate $15 billion in 2010, he said “health care is one of our six priority areas”. “GE Healthcare and Saudi German Hospitals Group have agreed to establish not-for-profit hospitals all across the Middle East and Africa region.” GE Healthcare is also opening a manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia, which will be focused on manufacturing innovative diagnostic imaging systems to meet the growing demand for modern healthcare equipment regionally. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health to train more than 1,000 Saudi health care professionals annually. “GE can also play a major role in the overall development through its technological advances.”
in varied sectors including oil & gas, energy, infrastructure support, healthcare and education”. GE, he said, is focusing its growth strategies in the region and Saudi Arabia will be a pivotal country for the company’s growth strategies that are aimed at an annual average growth rate of 20 percent through 2010.
“Saudi Arabia has already generated about $2 billion to our revenues,” said the GE chief, who will hold talks with the ministers of power, water and health of the Gulf countries during his visit to the region. He pointed out that GE has also signed a joint research agreement with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which is the first accord of its kind to be inked by this prestigious Saudi institution.
“Moreover, we are offering training facilities for Saudi students, providing focused training solutions in the company’s core competencies,” said the GE chief, adding that this is a reiteration of GE’s localization initiatives, to have a stronger component of Saudi workforce by creating more employment opportunities and transfer knowledge and expertise to them. With offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia currently makes up the largest GE workforce in the region with more than 600 employees.
GE, in a press statement, said has plans to open power generation project offices in Riyadh and Dammam, which will serve as a hub to coordinate project management activities across the Middle East, where GE already has project commitments worth over $4 billion. Referring to the GE’s presence in the region, Immelt said that “the company can be a good co-investor in Saudi Arabia and in other countries of the Middle East.”
Immelt further said GE primarily seeks to involve itself in infrastructure, high-end technology, industrial and health care projects. GE Commercial Finance and GE Money, however, offers financial services and credit services respectively, while its another affiliate NBC Universal has emerged as one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies.
With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries.
The press briefing was also attended by top GE executives including Nabil A. Habayeb, GE’s president and CEO for Middle East and Africa; Akram Hamad, national executive for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen; and Greg Farrett, GE’s executive director for corporate communications.