3M, a US-based producer of consumer and industrial goods, is planning to set up a manufacturing unit in the Gulf to produce oil and gas products, according to the company's senior official.
Dr Horst Hoeller, managing director of 3M Gulf, Middle East region, was quoted by Khaleej Times as saying that the company was currently negotiating with Saudi Arabia and the UAE about the possibility of establishing such a project.
Hoeller said that the decision whether to invest in Saudi Arabia or the UAE would be taken in the first half of this year.
According to the daily, Saudi Arabia is the largest market for 3M's products, with some 40 percent of total sales in the region, which touched $73 million last year. The UAE is the second biggest market for 3M in the region.
He said 3M was projecting to increase regional sales to $84 million this year, while by the year 2005 it is expected to touch $250 million, it added.
The company's headquarters in Dubai oversee operations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan and provides support to offices in Pakistan and Egypt – Albawaba.com
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