Siemens breaks ground on new Saudi plant for gas turbines, compressors
Siemens has taken the next step in its ongoing expansion of activities in Saudi Arabia, breaking ground on a new manufacturing facility in Dammam for gas turbines and compressors, the company said on Wednesday.
Planned for completion in late 2013, the center will create job opportunities for young Saudis, serving as a knowledge-transfer hub for new Siemens technology and supporting the country’s industrialization drive, according to the company.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held under the patronage of H.R.H. Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Governor of the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia.
It took place in the presence of several government officials, the local partner E.A. Juffali & Brothers, executives from Saudi Electricity Co. and Saudi Aramco, as well as high-ranking representatives of Siemens, the company said.
The equipment manufactured at the plant will be supplied to the local Saudi market, where energy requirements are strongly increasing.
Siemens and its local partner, E.A. Juffali & Brothers, are jointly investing a three-digit million-dollar figure in the facility, which will be constructed on a 220,000 square-meter site in Dammam in the eastern region.
The manufacturing facility is the first of its kind for Siemens in the Middle East.
"With this new facility, Siemens is clearly strengthening its long-term commitment to Saudi Arabia,” said Michael Suess, CEO of the energy sector and member of the managing board of Siemens.
“We will create qualified jobs and train young Saudis in order to achieve a true transfer of our innovative technologies,” Suess added.
Siemens, in association with Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic (SPSP) and Saudi Arabia’s Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), will offer a two-year technical apprenticeship program provided by SPSP, followed by one year of on-the-job training at Siemens.
Depending on their job fields, which students will specialize in during the program, they will be trained in various Siemens locations in Germany and the US. The first 40 Saudi students started their program in December 2011.
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