Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation to establish subsidiary in Saudi Arabia

The establishment of the subsidiary in Saudi Arabia is aimed at further enhancing MCO's after-sale service structure in the country, to which more than 200 MHI compressor and mechanical drive steam turbines have been delivered.

The new company will also function as a marketing and service base to cover the entire Middle East region.

MCOSA will be established as a joint venture between MCO and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) capitalized at SR1m, or approximately YEN24m. MCO will own an 81% share and MC will hold the remaining 19%. The JV is slated to commence operation on July 1.

The new company, which will handle maintenance and inspection of compressor/turbine equipment, will be located in Al Khobar, a city on the east coast, along the Persian Gulf.

In close proximity to Al Khobar, Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, is situated in Dhahran and many petrochemical-related companies are concentrated in the Al Jubail area.

MCOSA will provide services not only in Saudi Arabia, where these major customers are located, but also within the entire Middle East region, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

MCOSA will initially launch operations with 10 staff members, including Hoju Kobayashi, currently a senior staff member at MCO' Middle East Office, in the position of president.

The Middle East is one region into which MCO is currently focusing its business activities. To date the company has delivered more than 500 compressor/turbine units to the region, and the area will continue to be an important market on the back of significant growth projected in the years ahead, supported by the region's vast energy resource reserves.

For MCO, establishing a base to provide more timely and responsive after-sale services to local customers, as well as to strengthen marketing activities toward further business expansion, has been a matter of urgency.

The establishment of MCOSA not only meets MCO's own needs but also satisfies the demand for a transition to localized operation under the country's "Saudization" drive, a national policy that encourages employment of Saudi nationals as a means to reduce unemployment among the country's young people.

MCO was established in April last year as a company dedicated to business involving MHI compressors.

To accelerate its dynamic business development in the global market, earlier this year the company licensed its compressor technology to Hangzhou Steam Turbine & Power Group Co., Ltd. of China and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. of Korea.

Gaining momentum from the establishment of this local base, MCO now aims to further strengthen its business development activities in a quest to come out a winner in the global market, where competition is intensifying greatly.