H.E. the Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. TAWFIG FAWZAN ALRABIAH Al-Rabiah had held a meeting with Mr. / Suzuma Hossuy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Isuzu Motor Corp. as part of several visits carried out by His Excellency for a number of Japanese companies, manufacturers and investors in the Kingdom during the official visit to Japan by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Head of Isuzu Corp. welcomed His Excellency the Minister and those accompanied with him as guests of Japan, and wished them a pleasant stay, and their visit would be crowned with success.
The Head of Isuzu Corp. pointed out that the performance of Isuzu's factory , which was established in Dammam last year, had achieved 20% increase in production above what it was expected, where ( 720 ) trucks had been produced, and the locally produced trucks had passed the Quality Tests and got Isuzu Global Specification . He added that Isuzu Corp. would like to cooperate with the Saudi government to move forward in the work of expansion for this year, which aims to double the production of the project to 3 times, that means (1800 trucks a year) in order to serve the local market and export to Gulf countries as per the work plan for the plant.
The factory will continue to expand production to reach 25,000 cars a year. It is worth mentioning that the plant currently employs about 57 staff members, including 24 Saudi (42%) as per the records of 2013, and currently the company is training three Saudis to get them to a higher level of work in assembling trucks also the factory aimed at creating 23 new jobs through this expansion.
In this regard, His Excellency the Minister confirmed the cooperation with the company to overcome any obstacles because the success of Isuzu in Saudi Arabia is a success for the Kingdom. This can be done through the work with the Human Resources Development Fund, Customs and Standards and Metrology Organization. On the other hand, H.E. the Minister asked Isuzu to consider the possibility of manufacturing a larger number of parts and components within the Kingdom in order to reduce the cost and support the work of expansion that was intended by the company, the Head of Isuzu Corp. replied that the company had studied manufacturing more parts and components for trucks since four years ago, and the company will re- examine this issue to determine what can be manufactured locally.
It had been agreed at the end of the meeting that MCI would work through the National Program for the Development of Industrial Clusters and Isuzu Corp. represented by its President in Saudi Arabia to work together on some proposals for the development of the company's work and industry in the Kingdom and to solve all the obstacles faced by the company which may limit the expansion of its work in the Kingdom.