JEDDAH, 22 November 2006 — A major global engineering company has unveiled its plans to increase its investment across Saudi Arabia.
“We’ve a strong presence in the Kingdom and elsewhere in the region, especially in oil, gas and electricity, and we’re now focusing more on expanding our interests in the water, security and health care sectors,” Nabil A. Habayeb, General Electric Co. (GE) president and CEO for the Middle East and Africa, told Arab News in an interview.
Described as the world’s second biggest company by market value, GE’s revenue from the Middle East is set to rise by15 to 20 percent annually through 2010 on demand for electricity, transportation and health care. Sales from the region are expected to rise to $3.4 billion this year, more than triple the $1billion in 2002, according to him.
“The Kingdom is a strategic market for us, as it has huge development plans, and GE will be a partner in both of its public and private sectors with new investment strategies,” he said.
GE is a multi-billion dollar company marking an impressive growth rate every year. “We focus a lot on partnerships globally and especially in this part of the world with an eye on key industries. We excel in technologies,” said Habayeb who was accompanied by Ali Hakami, president, GE-Saudi Arabia.
GE is described as the world’s biggest provider of turbines for power plants, medical imaging equipment, locomotives and private-label credit cads. It is also the world’s biggest publicly traded real estate company. Other businesses include security plastics and appliances.
In Saudi Arabia, planned public infrastructure should require a $624 billion investment by 2020. GE’s revenue there will double to $800 million this year from 2002. In the UAE, revenue should rise to $1.1 billion from $200 million four years ago.
GE Energy is one of the world’s major suppliers of technology, products and services to the energy industry. GE’s Gas Turbine technology is well established with more than 300 machines installed in the Kingdom. GE Energy recently marked the operating debut of the advanced F technology at the Uthmaniyah Cogeneration Plant in the Kingdom. These were the first F technology machines to enter service in the Kingdom and are designed to provide high levels of plant performance and output.
Part of GE’s wide ranging portfolio in the Kingdom includes GE Healthcare, which specializes in innovative diagnostic and imaging equipment, patient monitoring and data systems and networked storage systems and software for health care professionals.
GE Healthcare has been established in the Kingdom for more than 25 years and, together with partner El Seif Development Co., it has been making the latest innovations available to health care providers. GE Healthcare has invested several million dollars in the Kingdom’s three strategic service support centers of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
