Hisham Albahkali
POSITIVE change is the driver of growth, and we, in Saudi Arabia, are ushering in a new development narrative that will transform our economy into one of the most competitive in the world.
As a Saudi national privileged to lead GE, a global digital industrial company, I view the Saudi Vision 2030, endorsed by the Council of Ministers under the chairmanship of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, with great optimism.
The Saudi Vision 2030, announced by the Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, puts the onus on every Saudi national and every resident to take responsibility and be committed to the all-round socio-economic progress of our nation. We have been blessed by the vision of our leaders and it is time for us to prove ourselves worthy of their generosity by contributing to the nation.
Studying the Vision 2030 document, I was delighted to note how much of what we, as GE, do in Saudi Arabia is already well-aligned with its economic diversification, national transformation, human capital and strategic partnership programs.
As one of the first companies to support the Kingdom in its first wave of economic transformation in the 1930s to 1940s, we have consistently aligned our operations here with the larger vision for the Kingdom.
GE provided the first turbo-machinery for energy sector development in the 1930s; today, we are well on course to manufacturing ‘Made in Saudi’ gas turbines for our partners. Completing a full cycle of localized manufacturing, including the creation of a vibrant local supply chain led by Saudi SMEs, is but only one part of our overarching presence in the Kingdom.
Over the past decades, we have partnered with the Kingdom in sectors including electricity, water, healthcare, aviation and transportation. Our technologies help generate nearly half the electricity produced in the Kingdom, delivering reliable power to light up homes and to power industries.
We walk hand-in-hand with our Saudi partners in achieving its power production goals including initiatives to digitize their industrial assets and in driving productivity growth — both aligned with the strategic goals of Vision 2030.
We see robust opportunities in driving renewable energy including wind and look forward to the direction to be set by the King Salman Renewable Energy Initiative.
We have now grown to be a 2,000-strong GE team, most of them Saudi nationals. At GE Manufacturing Technology Center in Dammam, for example, where we are manufacturing our first gas turbine and providing in-country maintenance and repair services for our customers, we already have over 600 Saudi professionals including women engineers, setting a new precedent for the Kingdom in building technical careers for Saudi nationals.
My team shares their pride in supporting the growth strategy of the nation that focuses on creating a robust manufacturing sector. We are on course to double our workforce, and for this, we are investing in Saudi talents through scholarships for students – both male and female – and extending vocational training through Technical and Vocational Training Corporation. This is our commitment to building an education ecosystem in the Kingdom that is aligned with market needs.
This is reflected in the Business Processing Center in Riyadh, where we have close to 1,000 women professionals. Together with our partners, we are committed to increasing the number of employees threefold.
The focus of Saudi Vision 2030 on ensuring a healthy lifestyle for all citizens cannot be overstated. It is important to step-up our fight against lifestyle diseases and we believe that two factors are crucial to this: The first is to promote an earlier care model through timely diagnosis; and the second, is to train our healthcare professionals.
As the government increasingly focuses on corporatization of the healthcare sector, we are sharing our expertise in high-end radiology and other services that can benefit both the public and private sector hospitals to ensure timely care.
The concerted efforts of the Ministry of Health have enabled the Kingdom to cut infant mortality rates and prolong life expectancy from 66 to 74 years in the past decade. But we are stepping up our operations to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 goal of further extending life expectancy to 80 years.
And in this, we have a bright team of Saudi professionals, who understand the lifestyle and habits of the people, leading our healthcare operations.
We are bringing together all these core strengths of GE and how our businesses support the Kingdom’s transformational growth with the GE Global Supplier Forum in June.
With expert panel discussion and ministerial addresses, the event will focus on the new ecosystem that we need to drive in helping drive the dynamic new vision of the Kingdom. Of particular importance will be the role of local Saudi enterprises.
We believe in empowering the community — and that is why we have invested in building Saudi SMEs. Today, we have a Saudi supplier base of over 150, which we aim to double to 300 in the next four years. We are keen to work with the SME Authority in this — and internally, we are exploring opportunities to strengthen their skills and capabilities.
That is what makes us a truly ‘glocal’ organization – where we bring global technologies for the local market by local professionals – and support the Kingdom’s investment strategy through forward-looking investments, especially in supporting the digitization of industries and tapping the potential offered by the Cloud.
And what makes us exceptionally proud is that our growth in the Kingdom has been driven – and will continue to be led – by Saudis, who are committed to fulfilling the development vision of our leadership.
— Hisham Albahkali is GE’s President & Chief Executive Officer for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
