Feb 07 2013 |
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Romanian firms eye Qatar power sector with 'high-quality' products
By Ramesh Mathew Top Romanian manufacturers of electrical equipment and machinery are on a concerted drive to prove their expertise in the global power sector, producing an array of components necessary for upgrading the industry's infrastructure.Ten leading electrical manufacturers from the East European nation, brought together by the Romanian Ownership Association of Electro-technics, Electronic, Telecommunications and IT Industries (APREL) had a pavilion set up at the exhibition held on the sidelines of the Power-GEN 2013 conference concluded at the Qatar National Convention Center yesterday.
"In the last few years we have been making bold efforts to make inroads into the markets in the region, especially Qatar, where we understand there is a growing demand for electrical components in view of the large-scale activities in the power sector," APREL chairman Valeriu Velciu said.
"The exhibition in Qatar has given the manufacturers in Romania to display their quality electrical gadgets, which have been widely accepted in major markets in the Western Europe and also in some of the emerging markets across the world," said Velciu, adding that the event has shown in no uncertain terms that products from Romania is as good as those coming from highly industrialised countries.
"Romania had built good industrial infrastructure several years ago but the revolution in 1989 had some devastating effects on the country's industrial sector and many companies could not resume their full-swing operations afterwards. However, there has been substantial support from the government these days to boost the exports and we are trying to avail of the situation to showcase our high quality gadgets," said Velciu.
Low and medium voltage distribution switch gears for electrical substations, developed in Romania are in great demand in the region, he added.
"The protectors for high voltage substations, produced by our companies are also widely received in the Gulf states because of their superior quality," Velciu said.
When it comes to price, Romanian equipments are at an advantage in such a highly competitive market as Qatar, he said.
Costin Lianu, director co-ordinator of Romania's National Export Strategy in the ministry of economy, commerce and business environment, told Gulf Times the government was giving considerable subsidies to encourage electrical entrepreneurs to export their products. "Our gadgets have received reasonably good visibility among the electrical engineering consultants and other professionals in Qatar and many of them are in use in the substations of the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) which were set up in the last few years," he said.
Both Velciu and Lianu are hopeful that Romanian equipment would be widely received in Qatar in coming years in view of their better quality and the growing requirements of the industry. "We are very much aware that a lot of activities are already happening as part of the infrastructure upgrading in Qatar's power sector and our long-time expertise could be utilised for the development of industries in the country as well," Velciu, who is also exploring the chances of setting up joint ventures in manufacturing sector, said.
"We could also understand that annual growth in the GCC power sector would be much higher than the rest of the world and hence there is enormous potential for developing business relations with such countries as Qatar," Velciu said.
© Gulf Times 2013
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