"Business-to-Business" Matchmaking Meetings are one of the Most Important Services Provided by the "SAUDI EXPORTS" for Exporters
The Secretary General of the Saudi Exports Development Authority "SAUDI EXPORTS ", Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Hakbani, said that Saudi products in the electricity sector, though so multiple, now have competitive quality and an added value. He was speaking during the activities which took place on the sidelines of the exhibition of water technology, energy and environment (WETEX 2015) in the Saudi Stand, which included Saudi companies in order to offer future opportunities for the "DEWA" projects. This is part of the efforts towards qualifying the Saudi companies to enter the UAE markets. The meeting was attended by Dr. Saleh Al-Awaji, Chairman of the Saudi Electricity Company, and the delegate member and CEO of Dubai Water and Electricity Authority Mr. Saeed bin Mohammed Al- Tayer.
Al-Hakbani stressed that the meeting took place at the initiative of Dubai Water and Electricity Authority to strengthen the strategic relationship between the two bodies; the Saudi Exports Development Authority and Dubai Water and Electricity Authority. This relationship is an extension of the close and strategic relationship between the governments of the two countries towards shaping a promising future economy with common vision and will. It is also an attempt to promote successful and bright relationship in the field of water, energy and environment. Al-Hakbani stressed that the "SAUDI EXPORTS" believes in its crucial role in encouraging and developing the Saudi non-oil exports towards a more comprehensive openness to international markets and global competition. One of the most important services launched by the Authority is to cater for "the delegations of buyers" and "business-to-business matchmaking meetings" to promote the Saudi products to international companies. This will lead to the discovery of new opportunities that reflect the value and quality of the Saudi product.
Al-Hakbani further explained that the Authority is seeking to focus its efforts on creating quality opportunities for national manufacturing companies in the fields of water technology, energy and environment. This comes out of its belief that the national product in this sector enjoys high quality to meet the increasing demand. This will contribute to fulfilling the aspirations of the national factories towards raising the value of the Saudi exports in this vital sector, which was able to gain a good position in the foreign markets through more than 60 Saudi factories that provide quality products in the electricity sector. This includes several products, such as cables and high-voltage towers, in parallel with more than 100 national factories which provide industrial products for the water sector, especially the high-pressure and turbo pumps.
In his speech, Al-Hakbani added that packages of local development projects played a role in achieving high levels of growth in the demand for these sectors as a result of projects launched over the past ten years or the undergoing projects. This has helped several industries to attain quality and quantity competitive levels. Perhaps most notably was the pipes industry, which managed to gain quality experience in this industry using various raw materials through 300 local factories. Such strategic projects directly affect the development of infrastructure and aim to increasing the quality of services provided to citizens and residents across the Kingdom.
Al-Hakbani also pointed out that these figures are an indication of the extent of Saudi product's quality in this sector. This confirms the breadth of demand, especially with the arrival of our national products to many markets in the Middle East, East Asia, such as China, Indonesia, passing through Europe via the markets of Germany, Britain, and Italy and ending with Australia, America and Russia.
Al-Hakbani underscored the attitude of our farsighted leadership to localize the industry by building a strategic relationship with the manufacturers and investors. This approach has contributed to the establishment of many factories and increased production lines, whereby the purchases of national institutions from local factories reached more than 70%. He confirmed that one of the most prominent features of encouraging Saudi industries is the creation of a diverse economic base that considers local industry a strong tributary to our national economy, in parallel with "crude oil", by encouraging all sectors and resources to contribute more contribution in the GNP.
On the other hand, Al-Hakbani hailed what he called a promising cultural and industrial boom in the Emirate of Dubai, in the form of giant projects, most notably Expo 2020. This will in turn be a powerful catalyst for the economic and cultural transformation, not only at the level of the Emirate of Dubai, but also at the UAE level and neighboring countries as a whole. This will stimulate the level of industry in the region, and create added- value products, which in turn will affect the demand and scope of the deployment level.
Al-Hakbani concluded his speech by emphasizing that this meeting is an additional incentive that may open the door for other initiatives among the member states that would serve this important pivotal industrial sector and contribute to improving level of industries in a way that could maximize using energy to achieve sustainable wealth.