The joint venture was formed in 2009 to supply valves to the oil and gas, petrochemical, power and water industries. The 55,000 square foot manufacturing facility was commissioned in 2010, and it completed the ISO 9001 certification, Saudi Aramco certification and other major customer approvals in 2011.

Prominent among those who were present at the event were Abahsain Group CEO Abdullah Abahsain; Flowserve Corp. President and CEO Mark Blinn; Saudi Aramco Vice President for New Business Development Motassim Maashouq; Abahsain Group Director Shaukat R. Sheikh; Flowserve Chief Operating Officer Tom Pajonas; Flowserve Flow Control Division Vice President and General Manager John Lenander and Colleen Quinn of the US Consulate General in Dhahran.

"The new facility demonstrates Flowserve's global experience and commitment to strategic localization," said Mark Blinn. "Our continued investment in this venture underscores our commitment to Saudization and to meeting the needs of our customers in the Saudi market and throughout the region."

According to Shaukat Sheikh, the new plant and training center opens doors for more opportunities within the local market. "The Dammam facility is uniquely equipped to meet the needs of customers wishing to purchase products manufactured in Saudi Arabia," he said.

"When we started here at this place in 2007, it was a vast wasteland, full of sand dunes; there was no electricity and no communication lines; there were no roads here," recalled Sheikh. "It took real determination and out-of-the-box thinking to execute our strategy of creating a small industrial park, accommodating seven of our group's enterprises."

He said success came after a lot of perseverance and hard work. "Flowserve Abahsain Flow Control Company Ltd. is now a reality thanks to very active help from notable and able Flowserve Corp. officers such as Tom Pajonas, John Lenander and Chuck Montgomery."

Sheikh highlighted Abahsain Group's 40-year partnership with Flowserve Corp. "They have underscored their commitment to Saudi Arabia in general and to long-standing and valuable customers such as Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. in particular," he said. "This facility is the climax of the two companies' historic commitment to our Middle East and Saudi customer base."

"With 260 billion barrels of oil, 7.461 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves and monetary reserves touching $533 billion, Saudi Arabia is indeed a country of huge significance and enormous opportunities in such sectors as gas exploration and development, crude refining, petrochemicals and power," he said.

Sheikh praised the sagacious steps taken by the Kingdom's stellar leadership to boost the economy.

"Currently, Saudi Arabia has more than 140 upstream oil and gas projects in the pipeline; their total value is estimated at $215 billion ... Most important, Saudi Aramco, the world's most integrated oil company, is set to evolve and add value to crude by converting it into refined products ... All these represent long-term opportunities for its committed vendors and contractors."

He called for proactive and robust support for local "home-based" enterprises. "The Kingdom should not fall prey to market manipulations and break the will of the home-grown entrepreneurs," he said. "If we believe in 'Saudi Arabia First' then we must believe in 'Made in Saudi Arabia' first, and support, not handouts, for local industries is a must for them to become the pillars of a technologically-advanced Saudi Arabia of tomorrow."

The Dammam facility reached an important milestone in late 2011 with the successful manufacture, inspection and shipment of the facility's first large bore control valves to be completely assembled and tested in Saudi Arabia.

While Abahsain Group is one of the top 50 business entities in the Kingdom, Flowserve Corp. is one of the world's leading providers of fluid motion and control products and services.