JEDDAH: Saudi Telecom Co. (STC), Savola Packaging Systems, Jubail Petrochemicals (Kemya) and Advanced Electronics have won King Abdul Aziz Quality Prize, Commerce & Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza announced yesterday.
Savola won the prize in the medium productive institutions category while STC bagged the prize in the large service institutions category.
Kemya and Advanced Electronics shared the prize in the large productive institutions sector, the minister said.
“No company was qualified for the prize in the medium service institutions category,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the minister as saying. Alireza commended national companies for making efforts to fulfill the conditions and requirements of the prize. He hoped that other companies would follow the example set by the winners.
Nabeel ibn Ameen Mulla, director general of Saudi Arabian Standards Organization and vice chairman of the prize committee, said the government introduced the prize to improve the performance of Saudi institutions in various sectors.
“King Abdul Aziz Quality Prize is at par with many international prizes such as Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the US,” he said. Companies that are managed well, employ more Saudis and give importance of manpower and social development qualify for the prize. As many as 102 companies contested for the prize, Mulla said, adding that experts from the UAE, Egypt, Jordan had taken part in the selection process. “All companies that have reached the final round enjoy distinguished quality applications,” Mulla said.
