OREANDA-NEWS. October 03, 2013. The Saudi Supplier Conference at an al-Khobar conference center highlighted the important role local, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can play in the Kingdom’s manufacturing and service sectors in strengthening the ever-important supply chain and creating job opportunities for skilled and enterprising Saudi youth.

Sponsored by the Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center (Wa’ed) and General Electric (GE) Saudi Arabia, businessmen and entrepreneurs learned that innovation could provide an entry into a global supply chain for local companies.

“Everything we produce — from aircraft engines to health-care equipment, locomotives, aircraft engines and water treatment solutions — is the result of elaborate, carefully integrated networks of suppliers and sub-suppliers,” GE worldwide president and CEO Jeffrey Immelt told a gathering of more than 200 Saudi business leaders representing diverse economic sectors, including manufacturing, energy, power, aviation, transport and health care, as well as others.

“Our suppliers are therefore our integral partners, and we devote our resources to strengthening the value chain consistently. This is particularly relevant for Saudi Arabia, where we have a strong heritage.”

Since supplying Saudi Arabia with turbo-machinery for its first oil expedition, GE has been a technology development partner to the Kingdom and has more than 80 years of long-term partnerships in the Kingdom.

GE showcased the diverse business portfolio of its GE Saudi Arabia subsidiary and detailed its domestic requirements in power and desalination along with oil and gas and energy management. It also presented some of its initiatives, including the GE Manufacturing Technology Center in Dammam, which promotes localized manufacturing and its export potential.

“The Saudi economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and it offers great business opportunities in vital sectors such as manufacturing,” said Wa’ed chairman Motassim Ma’ashouq.

“This creates the need to establish a strong and diversified supplier base, which is an opportunity for national companies to develop the necessary capabilities that enable them to become important parts of this supplier base.”

Local manufacturing units stand to benefit through multi-million riyal business deals by providing timely supplies to organizations such as GE, particularly for its Manufacturing Technology Center.

There is tremendous potential for local supplies in areas such as steel structures, fixtures, turbine casings, tanks, wind generator frames, exhaust stacks, flex hoses, valves, air coolers, control cabinets, cabling power distribution panels and medium voltage switchgear as well as fabrication works, piping, fluid systems and electrical work.

Several projects in the power, infrastructure, industrial and metal sectors, water and waste water, oil and gas, and petrochemical/refining sectors are ongoing in the Kingdom, presenting attractive opportunities for local suppliers to provide various components needed for seamless project execution.

“Through our partnership with Wa’ed, we are driving a result-oriented development strategy that will encourage the youth to be involved in the manufacturing and service sector. It is also a natural fit to our growth in the Kingdom, where we are currently rolling out a USD1 billion investment including the GE Manufacturing Technology Center,” Immelt said.

“GE’s businesses are integrally linked to the Saudi economy, with each business requiring raw materials that can be procured locally. Our focus on working with local partners will further contribute to boosting the economy by creating new jobs and promoting new enterprises, which can potentially be part of our global supply chain.”

“The mission of Wa’ed is to support the Kingdom’s effort to transform into a knowledge-based economy and to significantly contribute to the creation of quality and sustainable jobs for Saudi nationals,” Wa’ed managing director Jamal Naboulsi said.

“This mission is being accomplished through four comprehensive and unique programs: The first program involves supporting the creation or expansion of SMEs through loans; the second program involves support through venture capital investment; the third program provides specific support to SMEs active in the energy sector; the fourth focuses on enhancing the entrepreneurship eco-system through collaboration with other relevant entities in the Kingdom.”