Al Muwakaba for Industrial Development & Overseas Commerce (Holding), a member of Al-Amoudi Group of Companies, has signed an agreement recently to establish a SR900 million Advanced Tire Factory in Yanbu Industrial City. The factory, to be built on an area of 194,000 square meters, is considered to be the first plant of-its-kind in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, Chairman of the Board and the main partner for both Al Muwakaba and Advanced Tire Factory, said he is proud of the project. The new project is in line with the guidance of government of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in ensuring the diversity of industries in Saudi Arabia and the interest in supporting the national economy, he said. "We also extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to Jubail & Yanbu Royal Commission and the Saudi Industrial Development Fund as well as industrials Clusters' Program for their support to overcome obstacles to this vital project," Al Amoudi added. The project will also provide 600 employment opportunities. Based on the approach taken by the company in all of its projects, Al Amoudi assures that the preference and priority in career opportunities will be given to young and qualified Saudis, especially from the scholarship program of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in addition to training and development programs provided by the company to train technicians to work in high-tech factory. The plant will manufacture tubeless pneumatic tires for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Eng. Mohammed Abdullah Baraqabah Al-Amoudi, Al Muwakaba Director General and Board Vice Chairman, said the plant is expected to produce 1,800,000 of world class tires. He also said the manufacturing will be according to the latest world class technologies applied in tire manufacturing – well known BCT technology - and used in the international standards tire manufacturing. Moreover, the tires will be manufactured as per the European ECE standards and American DOT standards as well as comply with the codes and standards specified by Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO), he added. The project primarily aims to meet the needs of the Saudi market and then the rest of the GCC markets and North Africa. The project has a 34 months completion schedule with commercial production expected to commence by 2015, he noted. The partners recently completed all the statutory procedures for the project. Eng. Nasser Bin Mohammed Bin Jarallah, Panorama Group Vice President, partner and member of the Board of Directors of the Advanced Tire Factory, expressed satisfaction on all efforts made to implement the project. He said Al Muwakaba owns 65 percent of the total project while Bin Jarallah Group owns the remaining 35 percent in the first phase of the project. It is expected to include other international partners in the later stages of the project. He added that the project is funded partially by the Saudi Industrial Investment Fund and a number of Saudi local banks. Dr. Waddah Al-Kayyali Alem, deputy director general, the EPC contract to design, engineer, supply and plan building has been awarded to Camce-Sinomach, one of the major international companies specialized in the manufacture of tires. The technology for the plant will be provided by BCT that will be supervised by a specialized German consulting firm Technical Tire Consulting Gmbh (TTC) to ensure the highest quality standards. All project management processes will be undertaken by Saudi Swedish company MEDROC for Project Management Ltd., he added.
