Rasheed (right), managing director and chief executive officer of Emaar, The Economic City, shakes hands with Greif's executive after the signing of accord. KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY: A subsidiary of Greif, Inc., through a joint venture with Saudi Arabia's National Scientific Company (NSC), will set up a manufacturing facility to produce polypropylene (PPP) woven fabric at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) Industrial Valley, a statement said recently. The new facility will be the largest-of-its-kind in the Middle East extending on an area of 188 thousand sq meters. The PPP fabrics are a main component used in the production of flexible industrial packaging, planned to be manufactured and sold globally by the joint venture factory in KAEC's Industrial Valley. The facility will start production in phase one by early 2012. When operating at full capacity by 2016, the planned facility will create many new jobs, and will enable the Kingdom's production capacity of the polypropylene fabric to reach 10 percent of global manufacturing. "This facility is part of Greif's growth strategy to diversify and further serve the global industrial packaging market," said Michael Gasser, chairman and chief executive officer of Greif. "It will build on the presence we already enjoy in the region with Greif's rigid industrial products. Now, with this agreement, our polypropylene fabric business will be located in a strategic location next to a world-class seaport which will serve as a gateway to the world market." David Fischer, president and COO of Greif, said "the King Abdullah Economic City Industrial Valley, as a new pillar of the Saudi and regional economy, provides strategic logistics capabilities, and establishes access to competitively priced raw materials and utilities for us to efficiently produce the fabric. We were impressed with the ease of doing business in KAEC." Fahd Al-Rasheed, managing director and chief executive officer of EEC, the Tadawul-listed company developing KAEC, said "King Abdullah Economic City is continuing to attract giants from various industries. KAEC Industrial Valley has been designed using the best standards in the world for industrial zone master planning and provides all the services necessary for the establishment of manufacturing and logistics facilities." KAEC Industrial Valley will reinforce its position as a regional hub with this significant approach to plastic industry. With its strategic location on the Red Sea next to the KAEC Seaport, it serves international trade between Europe and Asia and reaches 250 million consumers in the Middle East and North Africa, Al-Rasheed added. Greif, Inc. is a world leader in industrial packaging products and services. The company is strategically positioned in more than 50 countries to serve global as well as regional customers. Greif embraces green building principles.
