Saudi Building Industries Exhibition big success

More than 200 exhibitors at the Saudi Building Industries Exhibition, which ended at the Jeddah Center for Forums & Events on Thursday night, reported a huge number of business deals running into millions of riyals.

“We can’t quantify the exact value of the business transacted at the expo, but the deals signed or those in the pipeline suggest that there has been record business,” Oguz Kuyumcu of Export Promotion Center of Turkey, which organized the Turkish participation, told Arab News.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Justin Liu, export manager of Jiangyin BondTape Technology Corporation of China, while speaking on behalf of the Chinese group.

Malaysia, with a number of its companies, was among one of the major overseas exhibitors.

Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed opened the expo on Monday.

The exhibitors included 100 local companies who are agents or suppliers of building materials and equipment.

Most of the exhibitors said they were more than satisfied with the participation as the visitors were mainly businessmen, professionals or traders.

“The exhibition provided us the right platform to introduce our products and also study the local requirement," Jean Howiller, director of development of France-based Mathis SA, said.

“There have been many inquiries for our building designs and systems, and equipment for sports and cultural centers, and infrastructure for malls and other commercial ventures.”

Jeddah’s Insulation Factory Ltd, producer of thermal insulations and packing solutions for the building industry, was among the many local exhibitors.

Its senior executive Adam Al-Tabei, said while demand for the factory’s products continued to grow “we received export orders for Sudan, Lebanon and other countries at this exhibition.”

Its products include thermal insulations and a wide range of sheets and products for roof and wall insulations.

Visitors at the exhibition, who included engineers, architects, consultants and designers, said they found some of the exhibits new and timely, and hoped they would be useful for the Kingdom’s booming real estate sector.

"After all, Saudi Arabia has a $400 billion development program that includes new cities, airports, schools and hospitals, a rail link and a huge program for building domestic properties for its ever growing population," said Zahoor Siddique, vice president of exhibitions at Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions, which organized the annual event.

The wide range of exhibits included all kinds of building materials including hardware, climate control, construction equipment and tools, electricity and lighting, environmental conservation, marble, granite and stone technology, safety, security and fire prevention, water technology and waste management.

A symposium related to the construction industry was also held alongside the 20th edition of the exhibition, with experts deliberating on quality control.

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Makkah Gate project includes university

The Makkah Gate project along the Makkah-Jeddah Highway will include a university, medical city and an administrative district, the city’s mayor Osama Al-Bar said on Tuesday.

The project, covering 83 square kilometers, is being implemented by Bawaba Company, an affiliate of Al-Balad Al-Amin Company, which is fully owned by the Makkah Mayoralty. The project will be completed in 15 years and in several phases.

Al-Bar discussed on Tuesday the project with Bakri Assas, president of Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, in the presence of managing director of Al-Balad Al-Amin Essam Kulthoum, and Muhammad Saifuddin, chairman of Omraniyun consultancy firm.

They also discussed the prospects of establishing a partnership between the university and the company to serve Makkah residents.

“We want to make reality the dream of (Makkah Gov.) Prince Khaled Al-Faisal to make Makkah a city with advanced facilities on par with those in other world-class cities,” the mayor said.

Al-Balad Al-Amin recently signed a series of agreements with the private sector to implement major residential, commercial, health and cultural projects in the area in the presence of Prince Khaled.

A residential district project will be established east of the government department complex, a company official said, adding that it will cover more than a million square meters. It will be developed by Sumou Holding, a leading real estate company.

A similar project with commercial and residential facilities will be carried out on an area of 3 million square meters north of the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway. Sheikh Ibrahim Afandi Group is the developer.

A charitable hospital to treat cancerous tumors will be established on the northwestern part of the expressway by a group of businessmen led by Abdul Rahman Faqeeh. An agreement was also signed for a cultural and knowledge center with Rawafid Charitable Foundation.

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Aramco mulls refineries in China, Indonesia

Saudi Aramco chief executive Khalid Al-Falih said on Tuesday that the company's daily refining capacity would soon grow 50 percent from its current level to more than 6 million barrels per day.

That growth will be accomplished through two refineries under construction in Saudi Arabia and four more being considered in Jizan in the kingdom and projects in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, he said in remarks prepared for a morning lecture at the Korea Chamber of Commerce.

He also said Saudi Aramco's natural gas production capacity would grow within five years to 14 billion standard cubic feet per day (SCFD).

"The Far East is the destination for two out of every three barrels of crude oil that Saudi Aramco exports," said Al-Falih.

"Companies from Korea and other Asian nations are important suppliers of top quality goods, materials and services to our operations and we are seeing increasing volumes of foreign direct investment from Asia in the kingdom."

He also noted that Saudi Arabia would spend more than $450 billion on capital projects over the next five years, while Aramco will be spending a total capital budget of roughly $125 billion on domestic and global projects over the same period.

This spending covers upstream activities, including new crude oil increments, he said, adding that Aramco would soon expand and upgrade existing refining centres, without elaborating. More