Beirut (APD) - Dubai-based Techno Park (TP) - the largest industrial center in the Middle East- and FTV Proclad (U.A.E.) Ltd, a subsidiary of the UK-based Proclad Group, signed a $100 million deal to establish an oil and gas research and development center in the park, Al-Ittihad daily reported Saturday.
The center will cover an area of 500,000 square feet and will provide jobs for more than 300 individuals from scientists, consultants, engineers and technicians. The new Proclad Center will include a factory for manufacturing equipments used in the oil and gas industries. The Center will also operate a training academy for human resources development.
"Our company's business development strategy seeks to expand its operations in the Middle East where it is currently executing multi-million dirham projects," Yassin Jafar, Proclad's Executive Manager said.
"The new facility will take care of a series of advanced project which will constitute the basic foundation of our future projects in the region," he added.
The R&D center will be linked to other Proclad centers in Singapore and Scotland which cooperate with leading R&D centers in the U.S. and Europe.
Proclad (U.A.E.) Ltd. is a leading precision engineering manufacturing and service industry with "State - Of - The - Art" machines and technology set up to cater the needs of Oil, Gas, Power Generation and Petro-Chemical Industries in the Middle East region.
"We welcome the addition of Proclad Group to the Technology Park ... Their presence in TP will reinforce their position in the Middle East" as a leading R&D firm, Abdullah Ahmed Al Quraishi, Chief Executive Officer of TP, said.
Established in 2003, TP is an industrial and research park created to provide an ideal environment for high-tech companies involved mainly in desalination and water resources, oil and gas as well as environmental resources management. [FC]
By Nadim Issa, APD Staff Writer in Beirut
© APD (Arab Press Digest) 2005
