Top air-con projects in Saudi Arabia

Al Rayes Grand Hotel
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We look at how a major air-con supplier is capitalising on the opportunities offered by the market in Saudi Arabia

High-end air-con equipment supplier American Breeze, which has offices in Dubai, the US and Europe, has been involved in a slew of projects in the burgeoning market of Saudi Arabia through its subsidiary Keyan A/C Company Ltd. Saudi Arabia is a logical market for the company to tap into, particularly as it uses its Dubai office as a hub for the entire Middle East region.

“The Middle East is an emerging region, which means there is the opportunity to perform what is effectively a ‘technology leapfrog’ into best practice from around the world,” says American Breeze MD Basel Shakra.

This makes it particularly exciting for the company to focus on developing markets such as Saudi Arabia, as this effectively becomes a testing ground for its own service offering and quality products.

Headed up by Abedallah Shana’ah, American Breeze’s product development team is responsible for the group’s main research and development acitivities. It has production facilities in Greece, Thailand and the US. “We are enthusiastic about reviewing new technology as it is patented, and for embracing it where appropriate,” says Shana’ah.

Looking at the Saudi Arabian market in more detail, it has been ranked the 13th most competitive country in the world in the ‘Doing Business 2010’ report issued by the World Bank. The information in the report reflects data gathered from 2008 and 2009. The Kingdom has moved its overall ranking from 67th in 2004, 28th in 2006 and 16th in 2007 to this year’s impressive ranking.

Additionally, for the fifth consecutive year, Saudi Arabia has been ranked the best place to do business in the entire Middle East and Arab world. The ranking by the World Bank confirms that the Kingdom is well-positioned to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming one of the top ten most competitive countries by 2010.

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Al Rayes Grand Hotel
Location: Al Haram, Mecca
Date commissioned: Expected 2009.
Main client: Eng. Abdullah Al Rayes
Scope of work: 1650 TR, chiller, air-handling units and fan-coil units
Consultant: Abiat
Main contractor: Technical Centre

Princess Nora University
Location: Riyadh
Date commissioned:
Main client: Ministry of Finance
Scope of work: Fan-coil units
Consultant: Ogez
Main contractor: Dar al Handaa

Technical College
Location: Breda
Date commissioned: Not yet commissioned.
Main client: General Organisation for Technical Education and Vocational Training
Scope of work: 1 270 TR, package and mini split units
Consultant: Askar (engineering)
Main contractor: Al-Najdain (contracting)