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The inauguration ceremony was attended by Dr. Rashid Al Leem, Director General, Sharjah Hamriyah Free Zone Authority; H.E. Venu Rajamony, Counsel General of India; Faizal Kottikollon, KEF Holding's Founder and CEO; and Anand Krishnan, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai International Capital. Also attending the ceremony were representatives of key clients of KEF including ARAMCO, ENOC, Dubai Petroleum, TAKREER, GASCO, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Kuwait Oil Company, TOTAL, Petroleum Development Oman and Occidental Petroleum.
Faizal Kottikollon, CEO of KEF Holdings, said:
"The launch of our new plant comes as a significant leap, not only for KEF Holdings, but also for the energy sector in the UAE and the wider region as a whole. We believe that this plant will bring much needed self-reliance to the Middle East, reducing costs and time for our clients in the oil and gas, mining, industrial, and petrochemical industries in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the United States."
"The annual requirement of oil and gas valves in the Middle East is currently in excess of US$3 billion and is projected to grow by 10 percent annually. With the support of our key shareholder, Dubai International Capital, we look forward to expansion in key growth markets to meet this demand and plans are underway to set up a similar manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. We also plan to establish distribution and service centres in Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, which allow us to be closer to our customers," Kottikollon added.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Anand Krishnan emphasised that the new facility opening marked an important step for KEF's expansion across the region and its contribution towards the development of the region's energy sector.
Krishnan said, "Having been operational for just eleven years, it is a remarkable achievement that KEF has built and launched such a state of the art facility that is not only the best of its kind in the Middle East but as good as any in the world today. The facility enjoys the latest technology and vigorous procedures to ensure a reliable supply range of industrial valves to our region's energy sector."
Sameer Al Ansari, Executive Chairman and CEO, Dubai International Capital, said:
"Our investment and support attest to the faith we at DIC have in KEF's management team and their ability to sustain impressive growth in the years to come as they continue to achieve world-class standards alongside their more established European industry peers."
In order to meet the future demand for industrial valves, JC Valves Sharjah is also planning to construct a larger facility, which will occupy an area of 100,000 square feet, situated adjacent to the current one at Sharjah Hamriyah Free Zone. Construction of the new facility will commence shortly and it is expected to be completed by mid-2009.
The first-of-its-kind facility in the Middle East allows JC Valves Sharjah to manufacture, assemble and test a comprehensive range of world-class industrial valves under one roof.
Established in 1997, KEF Holdings is the holding company of its two flagship businesses including JC Valves Sharjah and Emirates Techno Castings ('ETC'). Collectively, JC Valves Sharjah and ETC form the Middle East's first fully automated foundry boasting a production capacity of 36,000 tonnes per annum.
KEF serves over 70 clients including leading market players in the oil and gas industries such as Takreer, ENOC, Qatar Petroleum, KOC, PDO, Qatar Gas and Tyco. KEF was recognised for its best-in-class practices, as evidenced by their award of Best Foundry in the World by Weir Clear Liquid, a division of Weir Group.
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Posted by Siba Sami Ammari
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