OKI Printing Solutions expands presence in Middle East

The move is in line with OKI's increased investment in the region to drive sales and marketing support for its channel partners across the GCC, Levant and North African countries and launch a whole new range of printing solutions that will bring new choice to the Middle East printing market.

"OKI has been operating in the region for quite some time now through our channel partners that operate across the Middle East and some North African countries, such as Sudan and Libya. Today, we will be able to work more closely with them through our regional headquarters and provide new growth opportunities by extending printing solutions that bring real costs benefits to SMB and enterprise organizations," said John Ross, Middle East General Manager, OKI Printing Solutions.

OKI Data Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary of OKI Electric Co., Ltd) unveiled its new global identity last month, OKI Printing Solutions, as part of its continuing drive to be recognised as a major challenger brand in the colour non-impact printer market worldwide. The new name reflects OKI Printing Solutions' focus on empowering businesses and their staff to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of their printed communications, by providing flexible, easy to use printing solutions.

"The Middle East printer market currently stands at $185 million and it is growing rapidly. We believe there is an enormous opportunity for OKI Printing Solutions in the region with our wide choice of fast, affordable, digital colour printers that have broken many performance barriers in the past; we are ready to bring some serious competition to the region's printing arena," said Ross.

In the last couple of years, OKI's channel partners have worked with a number of major organizations across the GCC, including Batelco, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Kuwait Airways, Reuters, Kuwait Ministry of Information, Gulf Air, Royal Oman Police, Emirates Airlines, Dubai Port and Customs, SABIC, Saudi Airlines and King Abdul Aziz University Hospital. In the Levant, OKI customers include the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, Arab Bank, the Red Sea Development Authority, Royal Jordanian, Central Bank of Lebanon, Middle East Airlines and the Syrian Telecommunication Establishment, among others.

"We are working closely with different vertical organizations across the region, helping them address their printing needs with highly advanced printing solutions. We believe that this is a critical time in the market with an all encompassing drive towards colour printing in the office environment allowing people to communicate more effectively. OKI's printing solutions meet the needs of businesses that want strong visual impression, but which have previously only been able to access colour by compromising on cost, quality or speed," continued Ross.

The centre of OKI Printing Solutions' regional distribution network is its logistics warehouse in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, with the exception of Saudi Arabia where product stock is managed through Al Shoaibi's warehouses, OKI's master distributor in the Kingdom. Both facilities aim to improve the availability of stock for OKI's distributors, ensuring that customers can always find their products in stock at any given time.