Hitachi makes pumps, compressors and turbines of use in the energy sector along with alternative power generation technologies including solar and nuclear.

“We have been in Saudi Arabia for nearly three decades now,” Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd. Board Chairman Masaharu Sumikawa said while conducting a tour of the exhibition. “We are into the oil and gas industry, water and power business and petrochemical plant engineering and heavy industries. Some of our most important customers are located in this part of Saudi Arabia. Eastern Province is Saudi Arabia’s key industrial area. We, therefore, selected this place with a view to introducing our products to our customers.”

Major industrial customers were represented there including Saudi Aramco, SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.) and Marafiq. The stakes are high, as Hitachi competes with General Electric, Siemens and other companies with cogeneration turbines for power, steam and desalination, solar power and cooling systems and even railroad technologies.

The event’s focus was heavy industry and social infrastructure.
 
“At this exhibition, we have some examples of the high-tech compressors and pumps that are required in oil and gas plants and water treatment plants, we have here on display water and oil separation system, solar power technology, power and distribution equipment including substation components,” Sumikawa said. “We are going to have local partners in each area of the world, and we are soon going to have high-tech engineering manufacturing and maintenance centers here in Saudi Arabia to take care of our customers. We do realize the importance of engineering centers in this country.”

He said Hitachi’s engineering and construction expertise could be put to good use in the Kingdom.

“We can provide the best design and installation capability for the setting up of huge petrochemical plants. We at Hitachi can carry out this work with great precision, however big the plant,” Sumikawa said, underlining the company’s plans to work hand-in-hand with Saudi companies to increase Saudization. “Saudi Arabia is very aggressive in developing its economy. Right now this country needs good jobs for its nationals. Through our projects and initiatives we can provide golden opportunities to Saudis in high-quality engineering production. They can grow up as cutting-edge engineers. We have the expertise, and we can share that with Saudi engineers.”

Tatsuo Hori, general manager, Saudi Arabia, Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd., said: “In the last few years Hitachi's volume of sales in Saudi Arabia has been to the tune of $250 million.”