OREANDA-NEWS. Hitachi, Ltd. today announced that it will host the "Hitachi Social Innovation Forum," a Hitachi Group general exhibition, on February 10 at the InterContinental Hotel, Riyadh, aimed at expanding business in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The Forum will include exhibits and seminars held jointly by Hitachi and MEED, an influential media organization covering the Middle East and North African regions. Through this event, the Group will endeavor to deepen ties with local companies and customers and increase business in this part of the world, by introducing Hitachi's joint venture activities with local companies in industrial fields, along with Hitachi's advanced, cutting-edge technologies in fields including industrial and IT solutions, energy, mobility, healthcare, and water treatment.

The Middle East and North African regions are expected to demonstrate dramatic growth in the future, particularly given the positioning of Arab countries, which have the richest reserves of natural resources in the world, and countries such as the Republic of Iraq and Libya, where reconstruction demand is seen to be increasing. The average GDP growth rate in these regions is expected to be between 3% and 4% per year from 2013 to 2015.

Saudi Arabia in particular has continued to demonstrate stable economic growth based on income from natural resources, and is investing efforts in the growth of industries other than crude oil. In its ninth, five-year plan, covering the years from 2010 to 2014, the Saudi Arabian Government laid out new policies involving large-scale investments in social infrastructures, focusing mainly on the implementation and maintenance of power supply networks and facilities in the water and telecommunications fields.

Furthermore, in order to strengthen the electric power infrastructure, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, an organization established in 2010 under the direct guidance of the King of Saudi Arabia, has set a goal of establishing 16 nuclear reactors (18 GW) and introducing power generating facilities using solar and wind power and other forms of renewable energy on a scale of 54 GW by the year 2032. The Saudi Arabian market is expected to continue growing, given projections for the expansion of the development business in response to urbanization, as well as for increased individual consumption resulting from population growth.

Hitachi is currently implementing policies aimed at the global rollout of the Social Innovation Business as part of its 2015 Mid-term Management Plan, and has set a goal of increasing the ratio of overseas sales, which was at 41% in FY2012, to more than 50% by FY2015.

Hitachi will continue to strengthen its sales capabilities and roll out business in keeping with customer needs in this region, by capturing new business opportunities targeting urbanization, particularly in information and telecommunication systems, power systems, infrastructure systems, and construction machinery, and by responding to the growing demand for large home appliances resulting from increased personal consumption. In this way, the Hitachi Group will strive to expand its operations in the Saudi Arabian market with a focus on the Social Innovation Business and cooperate to the stable and sustainable growth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.