JEDDAH, 23 January 2004 — In addition to attending the Jeddah Economic Forum on Monday, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden also visited the local factory of Tetra Pak, the Swedish packaging firm. Having been in the Kingdom for more than 50 years, the company opened factory in Jeddah in 1998. It was the first Tetra Pak ‘greenfield’ packaging development in the world to incorporate both fiber and plastic technologies within one complex.
“Her Highness was very interested in our environmental policy here,” said Amar Zahid. “We were pleased to say that Tetra Pak Saudi Arabia’s Carton Factory in Jeddah has been officially accredited with ISO 14001, one of the world’s leading environmental standards. Our recycling and environmental policies are integral to the production cycle from sustainable forestry through to the recycling of water used in the factory.”
The Crown Princess was accompanied by senior Swedish officials, including Gunnar Lund, minister for international and economic affairs and financial markets, Hans Dahlgren, state secretary, ministry for foreign affairs and ?ke Karlsson, ambassador of Sweden to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Accompanying the royal party was a delegation representing leading Swedish companies including Ericsson, Alfa Laval, Atlas Copco, Volvo and Saab AB.
Tetra Pak Saudi Arabia produces both carton and PET packaging. Both the company’s factories in Jeddah’s warehouse city have been expanded to incorporate the latest technology and provide greater support to its customers in the region. The Saudi company is part of the Swedish Tetra Laval Group, the world’s leading supplier of processing and packaging solutions for food products which grew out of an idea by a Swedish inventor. This investment is yet another example of foreign investment which is in the Kingdom and which is helping to boost non-oil exports while encouraging Saudization.
