GE has been at the heart of driving industrial manufacturing, especially for the energy sector, in the Kingdom. With the company’s 80-plus years of presence in Saudi Arabia, GE has invested in local facilities such as the GE Manufacturing & Technology Center (GEMTEC) campus, which not only supports Saudi Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) but also promotes the Kingdom’s exports by serving over 70 customers in some 40 countries.
Hisham Albahkali, GE’s President & CEO for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, explains why it is important to invest in a local manufacturing ecosystem and how the company is supporting the realization the National Transformation plans under Saudi Vision 2030.
Could you give an overview of GE in the Kingdom now – especially given that you have a strong presence of over 80 years here?
Indeed, we have been a partner in the progress of the Kingdom, with our presence here going back to the 1930s, when we supported the first oil exploration projects of Saudi Arabia by providing turbomachinery equipment.
Today, we have a strong portfolio of businesses covering energy, healthcare, power, aviation and digital in the country, and above all, we have committed ourselves to supporting the ongoing transformation in the Kingdom as per the aims of Vision 2030. Our priorities have been to promote and build the local supply chain, driving the growth of Saudi SMEs, and focusing on creating high-value jobs for Saudis – finding the right talent, developing their skills and building leaders to support our business agenda and the broader growth agenda for the Kingdom.
As part of our commitment to the Kingdom to achieve the goals outlined in Saudi Vision 2030, we have achieved several milestones. For example, we have grown our exports to over US$100 million through GE’s products and services of the GEMTEC campus in Dammam.
We also commit ourselves to training young Saudis on sectors such as healthcare, energy and research – which is ongoing. Across the board, we have focused on several core pillars: A long-term commitment to the Kingdom; nurturing the right talent pool by working with academia and developing their skillsets; transferring our advanced skills and technology to the Kingdom; building truly world-class facilities to serve the domestic market; and creating competitive and sustainable businesses that not only add value through exports but also contribute to achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. We also focus on promoting a culture of localized innovation to identify solutions for local challenges, especially related to hot and harsh conditions, which can then be replicated globally – creating a business model of ‘Made in Saudi’ for the world.
Why is building a local supply chain essential? What is the value it adds to the Kingdom?
Manufacturing is regarded as one of the core pillars of the economic diversification plans under Saudi Vision 2030. What we are particularly focused on is manufacturing for the energy-related industrial sector. This is led through our GEMTEC campus, which is a hub for manufacturing, repair and overhaul of energy and power sector equipment, specifically gas turbines. The campus also features the GE Saudi Advanced Turbines (GESAT), a joint venture with Dussur, as well as the GE Hot & Harsh R&D lab, a US$15 million investment. The campus has been working with more than 150 local Saudi suppliers, including SMEs, who supply advanced technology, parts and other related services for various processes – which in turn contribute to building a local supply chain.
What we see on ground is a multiplier effect – whereby a strong local manufacturing ecosystem contributes even more value to the Kingdom by enabling our partners to achieve higher cost-efficiencies through our products and services made available locally.
All this takes back to our strategic approach for the Kingdom, as mentioned, such as creating high-value jobs for Saudis, transferring skills and technologies into the industrial ecosystem, enabling young Saudis to focus on tech-driven enterprises that add further value to the economy, and also boosting exports.
How important is innovation to building a local supply chain? Does GE depend on imported technology or focus on developing homegrown solutions?
Innovation and Research & Development (R&D) are at the heart of everything we do in the Kingdom because we believe that promoting a culture of localized innovation is central to achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. R&D is after all in the DNA of GE, going back to the creation of the company in 1892 and the work of Edison. In fact, we have consistently focused on promoting R&D in the Kingdom to address our unique challenges. This is evidenced in the Hot & Harsh R&D lab at the GEMTEC campus already filing for 20 patents in the power sector. While we, of course, bring technology from our worldwide research centers where needed, our primary focus is solving energy and power-related problems ‘in Saudi for Saudi’ and to share those solutions around the world as appropriate.
In the digital era, how do you see the localized SME ecosystem emerging? Do you think we have the right technological skills and manpower to drive it?
Digitization is a top priority for the Kingdom and is central to the transformation plans outlined under Saudi Vision 2030. In fact, the Ministry of Communications & IT and the National Digitization Unit (NDU) and various ministries are working across the board to develop and drive digital solutions and digital efficiencies as a key part of the aims of Saudi Vision 2030 including e-government.
Also, the Saudi Vision 2030 clearly articulates the need to develop a sophisticated digital infrastructure, which is integral to today’s advanced industrial sector. The document spells out how digitization serves as a catalyst for attracting investors and enhancing the competitiveness of the Kingdom. In this, the private sector is envisaged to have a strong role – and we are delivering on that mandate.
We are focused on bringing our advanced digital technologies to the Kingdom, as well as investing in training Saudi talents. Our goal is to support the digital transformation initiatives in Saudi Arabia, and we are working with our partners, including local SMEs, and supporting them to achieve new levels of operational efficiency and productivity, which are the hallmarks of successful digitization. The digital era is one rich with opportunities and we must leverage it to support and build a local ecosystem for the Kingdom focused on the manufacturing sector.
What are the challenges that building a local manufacturing ecosystem face today in the Kingdom? How does GE address that?
I believe that we have a strong era of opportunities now under Saudi Vision 2030. We are committed to the National Transformation Plans – and as such, we do not see challenges but only more potential for positive opportunities and growth over the long term. We must focus further on STEM education so that we can further build a talent pool of professionals for the manufacturing sector who will drive further industrial diversification and be the engine of future growth. We are already seeing strong gains being made by our highly-skilled Saudis, not only at our GEMTEC campus in the power sector but across the board, who are ushering in a new era of industrial manufacturing for the Kingdom.
At GE, we have total confidence in the leadership of the country to create the right environment to achieve the aims of Saudi Vision 2030 and GE is fully committed to align our plans and actions to continue to be a partner in progress for the decades to come.
