Austrian Rosenbauer Group is building a plant to assemble fire-fighting vehicles in Jeddah to meet local demand and export to the GCC and North African countries, an Austrian diplomat was quoted by local media as saying.
The Austrian company is also considering construction of another project in Riyadh for similar purposes, the deputy commercial consul of Austria in Jeddah told Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper.
He said other Austrian companies are working in the Saudi market adding to the trade exchange between Austria and Saudi Arabia, which stood at more than one billion euros (SR5 billion) last year.
Austrian exports to the Kingdom increased by 40 percent compared to the figures of the last year, he said.
He added some Saudi firms are investing in Austria, especially in the area of hospitality and tourism.
However, Austrian investors and companies who want to enter into Saudi Arabia are facing some obstacles, notably obtaining entry visas, he said. If entry visa formalities were eased, more Austrian investments would come to the Kingdom during the next period, he said.
The Rosenbauer Group, which is one of the world’s three largest manufacturers of fire-service vehicles, was awarded last year a contract to supply 1,125 fire-fighting vehicles of different types to Saudi Civil Defense Department, the medial said. It is to be noted that Rosenbauer supplies the fire-fighting sector in over 100 countries with a wide range of custom fire and rescue apparatus and services.
The value of the contract, which is the biggest in the history of the company, stood at 245.3 million euros (SR1.2bn). The vehicles will be delivered in 30 months up to the middle of 2014, the company said.
Due to rapid population growth in Saudi Arabia in the last few decades, an expanded fire-fighting program was launched that will include building of new 180 fire-fighting stations, notably in urban areas, and employment of new 6,000 members.
Fire-fighting vehicle plants in Jeddah, Riyadh under way
