JEDDAH, 1 May 2006 — A UK trade mission, organized by the Middle East Association (MEA) in London, held their first reception on Saturday. Hosted by UK Trade and Investment at the British Consulate, the mission attracted great interest form local business.
“The presence of this mission,” said David Lloyd of the MEA, “Strongly indicates the confidence that exporters in the UK have in the Kingdom. They see it as both a prosperous and stable economy and a safe place to do business.” Lloyd said that the bulk of new business initiatives to the Kingdom were taken by small to medium enterprises. “The SME’s are leading the way in new business,” he said, “They are more adventurous than large companies at breaking new ground.”
There was an emphasis on training apparent in the mix of companies represented in the trade mission. While there is still a flow of young Saudis to the UK for higher and post graduate education, many do not have the academic qualifications to enter British colleges.
Dr. Amina Wakefield head of the International Office of Cambridge Regional College — an institution with 21000 enrolled students — felt that there was an opportunity in the Kingdom to offer vocational training to high school graduates.
“The Saudi government is supporting vocational training through the GOVETOTS scheme,” she said, “and requires students to take it up. We can offer training schemes in the Kingdom and already are accrediting schools.” The college seeks to train trainers and advise on curricula and is able to set up the academic infrastructure training institutions if needed. “British style education is increasing in popularity,” she confirmed, “and we look forward to helping it to happen here.”
The college is familiar to many Saudi families; it runs family packages through the summer months that offer courses for the entire family in a learning holiday.
Philip Owen, representative for MMO Associates, joined the mission with the aim of creating a sustainable blue collar Saudi workforce. Their area of expertise is defense services, aerospace, engineering and high tech sectors of business. John H. Bunney, from Antar Consulting Ltd., added that the Saudi government’s political aim of handing the responsibility of the joint venture for day to day run by Saudi citizens requires professional skills and strong sense of responsibility. “To achieve that, the young generation needs mentoring, guidance and training through professional advice and consultation that MMO associates and Antar can give,” he said
Tristel is one of the SME’s that exemplifies the initiative that characterizes trade mission. Their high level disinfection solution Tristel Fusion — which effectively sterilizes medical instruments and work surfaces in 30 seconds with minimal water — effectively eliminates the need for a central sterilization department. Sensitive instruments — which frequently suffer damage during transport to and from the sterilizing unit and during the high temperatures involved in sterilization — can be cleaned on site. The application has huge potential in the Kingdom, especially in remotely sited clinics and with paramedical staff. “We have had great success with this patented chemical system in the UK,” said Astrid Haeber, International Marketing Manager for Tristel. “By this evening’s show of interest, response here will be tremendous.”
In complete contrast to high tech solutions, the acute canine sense of smell linked with specialist training can outperform even the most sensitive technology. Dog Detectives Ltd., whose “sniffer dogs” detect explosives and drugs and are trained to UK Home Office standards using real drugs and explosives, are used to detect survivors under collapsed buildings.
David Jones, director of operations at Dog Detectives said that dogs were particularly useful in detecting survivors under collapsed buildings. “They alleviate the need for cutting and clearing materials to reach an area where survivors may be,” he said, “as they can trace people and lead rescuers using their acute sense of smell alone.”
The Trade moves on to Riyadh on this evening (Monday) and to Alkhobar on Thursday Evening, returning to the UK on May 8.
