General Electric Company (GE), the $173 billion diversified technology giant, will support Saudi Arabian Airline’s ambitious plan to launch overhaul services of engines, which will finally lead to the building of a new state-of-the art facility at the Jeddah-based king Abdul Aziz Airport within the next 18 months, Jaffrey R. Immelt, GE’s board chairman & chief executive officer, said here yesterday during a press conference.
Under the agreement, valued at about $1.4 billion, GE will supply materials to the kingdom’s national carrier for 14 years from the the start of the new over-haul facility. Immelt said ” the new state of the art facility would serve the Kingdom, the Middle East and Africa regions, where our cumulative revenue has gone up by 45 percent to $8 billion in 2006.
He also presented the company’s growth strategies for Saudi Arabia and gave an overview of the GE’s operations worldwide with special reference to its presence in the Middle East. Predecting to generate $15 billion in 2010, he said ”health care is one of our six priority areas”. GE Healthcare and Saudi German Hospitals Group have agreed to establish non-for-profit hospitalsall across the Middle East and Africa region.” GE Healthcare is also opening a manufacturing facility in Saudi arabia, which will be focused on manufacturing innovative diagnostic imaging systems to meet the growing demand for modern healthcare equipment regionally. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health to train more than 1,000 Saudi healthcare professionals annually. ”GE can also play a major role in the overall development through its technological advances.”
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