JEDDAH: German conglomerate Siemens revealed Tuesday plans to establish a manufacturing and service facility in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The facility will include the local production of gas turbines and rotating equipment, a repair workshop and service facilities for the Saudi Arabian and Middle East market, the company said in a statement sent to the Saudi Gazette. The new center will be located in the Eastern Province. It is planned to be operational 18 months after final permissions and government approvals. When launched, the manufacturing hub will create many job opportunities and be a home to both Saudi and international experts. “The establishment of this manufacturing facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a natural progression of our historic relationship with the country,” said Peter Loescher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG. “The center will be state-of-the-art and produce the latest and sustainable technology. Thus, the center will be both a job machine and a center of excellence for engineering.” The investment decision was announced in a meeting between Loescher, Khalid A. Al-Falih, President & CEO Saudi Aramco, Ali S. Al Barrak, President & CEO, Saudi Electricity Company, and other senior executives of Saudi Aramco and Siemens in the Kingdom last week. The factory would create more than 1,000 jobs and approximately 3,000 indirect jobs. Siemens intends to give the training and education of young Saudis a further boost by building up technology know-how via vocational training, which includes theoretical courses and applied “on-the-job” apprenticeship. Al-Falih said “Siemens has a stellar global reputation for their technology and innovation culture. They have worked with Saudi Aramco and the Kingdom and have contributed to Saudi Arabia's development through their products and services over many decades. Their track record in our country spans many fields ranging from power generation to health care to various aspects of oil and gas production and processing.”
