JEDDAH: Emaar, The Economic City (EEC), a Tadawul-listed company developing King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), recently signed with Shamla Pharmaceutical Industries (a partnership between 3 major pharmaceutical companies, Saudi Arabia's Zimmo Trading Est., Egypt's Global Napi Pharmaceuticals and Syria's Unipharma Pharmaceutical Industries) for building a pharmaceutical factory at the Industrial Valley in KAEC. Shamla's new factory is expected to create many new jobs opportunities, and train and develop skills of Saudi talents once it operates in 2012, EEC said in a statement. The agreement came in line with EEC's special attention to the pharmaceutical sector primarily because of the quality of jobs they will create and the products they will produce. The KAEC Industrial Valley currently offers fully serviced land plots at various sizes from small to mega. Dr. Mohammed Zimmo, president of Saudi Zimmo Trading Est., said "this alliance is the first-of-its-kind between 3 key industry players, setting the milestone for a major uplift in the pharmaceutical industry and contributing to its localization in the Kingdom." Ahmed Linjawy, president of the Industrial and City Services Division in EEC, said "King Abdullah Economic City is continuing to attract giants from various industries. KAEC Industrial Valley has been designed using the best standards in the world for industrial zone master planning and provides all the services necessary for the establishment of manufacturing and logistics facilities." "The Industrial Valley is efficiently integrated with the port which makes the Industrial Valley a prime location to serve international trade between Europe and Asia and reach 250 million consumers in the Middle East and North Africa," he added. Dr. Makram Mehany, president of Global Napi Pharmaceuticals, said "the new factory represents an important stepping stone to expand our activities in the Kingdom. We are committed to our patient-centric vision and to ensuring that our products comply with the highest industry standards." "It is important to have the new factory at the Industrial Valley in KAEC as it enjoys a strategic location integrated with a world-class seaport serving as a gateway to the regional and international markets" said Dr. Mohammed Matouk, founder and president of Unipharma Pharmaceutical Industries. "Local pharmaceuticals represent only 21 percent of the Saudi market share. This, alongside a competitive market climate, have been key drivers to direct investment in this prominent sector," added Hussam Mitwally, board secretary, Shamla.
