Baker Hughes wins oil wells contract from Saudi Aramco - Create 200 Jobs

Baker Hughes, a GE company, has been awarded a major stimulation and well-testing contract by Saudi Aramco to be a partner in optimising production from new and existing wells across conventional fields in Saudi Arabia.

GE company says Saudi contract is expected to create more than 200 new engineering, field services and project management jobs

BHGE said it will deliver a comprehensive well services solution including all cased-hole wireline logging, perforation, well testing, stimulation, fracturing and associated intervention services.

The three-year contract includes the option of two one-year extensions and the project is expected to start later this month.

The work is expected to create more than 200 new engineering, field services and project management jobs, and indirectly supports an additional 300 existing jobs, a statement said.

Mohammed Y Al Qahtani, senior vice president of upstream at Saudi Aramco, said: “The contract further reinforces our integration efforts across conventional fields in Saudi Arabia, helping maintain capacity and meet domestic and global demand. We are pleased to work with BHGE as a partner with proven expertise in the country.”

“The contract underpins the strength of our portfolio and demonstrates our ability to deliver comprehensive good solutions to improve productivity, reliability and efficiency for our customers,” added Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman, president and CEO of BHGE.

With over 2,700 employees in the country, BHGE has more than 10 facilities for manufacturing, maintenance and R&D in the Gulf kingdom.

Baker Hughes, a GE company, has been awarded a major stimulation and well-testing contract by Saudi Aramco to be a partner in optimising production from new and existing wells across conventional fields in Saudi Arabia.

GE company says Saudi contract is expected to create more than 200 new engineering, field services and project management jobs

BHGE said it will deliver a comprehensive well services solution including all cased-hole wireline logging, perforation, well testing, stimulation, fracturing and associated intervention services.

The three-year contract includes the option of two one-year extensions and the project is expected to start later this month.

The work is expected to create more than 200 new engineering, field services and project management jobs, and indirectly supports an additional 300 existing jobs, a statement said.

Mohammed Y Al Qahtani, senior vice president of upstream at Saudi Aramco, said: “The contract further reinforces our integration efforts across conventional fields in Saudi Arabia, helping maintain capacity and meet domestic and global demand. We are pleased to work with BHGE as a partner with proven expertise in the country.”

“The contract underpins the strength of our portfolio and demonstrates our ability to deliver comprehensive good solutions to improve productivity, reliability and efficiency for our customers,” added Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman, president and CEO of BHGE.

With over 2,700 employees in the country, BHGE has more than 10 facilities for manufacturing, maintenance and R&D in the Gulf kingdom.

UAE-Based Gulftainer and US port deal to Create thousands of Jobs

UAE-based independent port operator and logistics company Gulftainer’s $600 million concession to develop and operate the port of Wilmington in the US state of Delaware is a “really big deal” for the state and has the potential to create thousands of jobs, according to Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock.

The ports deal, which was signed by Gulftainer subsidiary GT USA in late September, marks the largest ever run by a UAE company in the United States, as well as the largest investment ever made by a private UAE company in the country.

Speaking to Arabian Business during a recent visit to the UAE, Bullock said that the deal has the potential to create “double-digit growth in the number of jobs”, although he declined to give a specific forecast. 

“If you just run the models, the economic activity can double the growth of jobs [in and around the port,” he said. “Current direct and indirect unemployment around the port is currently about 5,000 or 6,000.

“Our first priority is to maintain the employment we already have, and then provide a path forward for the port to grow. We’ve accomplished [these goals] and the third is to create new jobs. We’ll see job creation. Whether it’s 1,000 jobs or 5,000 jobs remains to be seen,” he added

Plans for the port also include the development of cargo terminal capabilities, as well as the establishment of a training facility for the ports and logistics industries that are expected to train and upskill as many as 1,000 people each year.

Bullock added that the deal – and others like it – can help bridge the cultural gap between the US and UAE.

“It’s very powerful. Some of the hesitation in the United States is kind of from the fear of the unknown,” he said. “We are different and that’s okay. But we have a lot more similarities than differences.”

Dubai's dnata expands US services creating more than 350 local Jobs

Dubai-based air services provider dnata has launched operations at Los Angeles International Airport as it continues to expand in the United States. The company said it now provides ground handling and cargo services at 20 airports in the country.

To establish operations in Los Angeles, dnata said it has invested $8 million in infrastructure and resources, creating more than 350 local jobs.

Serving six airlines, including Austrian Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Qantas, dnata will initially handle 4,600 flights a year.

David Barker, CEO of dnata USA, said: “Adding Los Angeles International Airport to our growing network underlines our strong commitment to the US market, where we have significantly expanded our operations through massive investments in our facilities and resources in the past two years.”

dnata commenced ground handling and cargo operations in the United States by the acquisition of industry players in 2016. Since then, the company has invested more than $35 million in facilities, equipment, training and technology.

 

Earlier in 2018, dnata has opened a cool-chain perishable cargo facility at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, established operations at Nashville International Airport, diversified its service portfolio by launching passenger handling services at New York JFK Airport, and most recently commenced services at Concourse G at San Francisco International Airport.

Including Los Angeles International Airport, dnata’s global ground handling and cargo network now consist of 87 airports in 13 countries.

Microsoft’s Technology Ecosystem will create 55,000 Jobs in the UAE

 American tech giant Microsoft believes its large-scale data centres and other investments in the Middle East and North Africa may create as many as a million incremental jobs throughout the region, according to Samer Abu Ltaif, the company’s president for the Middle East and Africa.

Speaking to Arabian Business this week, Abu Ltaif, who has been the company’s regional president since February 2017, said that the company believes that its investments in the region between 2017 and 2022 will create 576,000 high-tech jobs in the region among its 17,000 partner organisations.

“If you take the conversion that has been adopted that for every one high-tech job, you can have 4.3 jobs in other occupations and other sectors, you’re talking about potentially Microsoft’s ecosystem leading to one million incremental jobs in MENA, and two million in the Middle East and Africa,” he said.

According to a recent report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), Microsoft’s technology ecosystem will create over 55,000 jobs in the UAE alone by the end of 2022.

Additionally, Abu Ltaif revealed that over the last five years, Microsoft has donated, granted or participated in technology grants across the MEA region that amount to approximately $160 million.

“Only last year, we supported around 730 entrepreneurs that really require support on technology,” he said. “We are actively pursuing opportunities where our emphasis is on where technology can play a powerful role to evolve the region and support people who are under-served.”

Marriott International to create 5,000 Jobs in the UAE

Marriott International said it expects to add 11 new properties in the UAE by year-end, with a robust development outlook over the next five years.

Year-to-date, the company has added six new properties and is scheduled to add five more in the country - bringing its portfolio in the UAE to 59 properties and over 17,000 rooms across six Emirates by the end of the year. 

Two of the company’s openings this year feature regional brand debuts - the eco-conscious Element Hotels brand, which opened earlier this year in Dubai, and the EDITION brand, which is scheduled to open in Abu Dhabi later this year, Marriott said in a statement.

The company added that it plans to further enhance its footprint in the UAE with the addition of more than 20 new properties in the next five years. The company expects this development pipeline could generate over 5,000 new jobs in the country.

Arne Sorenson, president and CEO, Marriott International said: “Our success in the Middle East stems from our long-established presence in the market and the value we deliver to our owner-partners. It is the trust owners have in Marriott International, combined with our differentiated brands and collective strength of our global platform, that has put us in a position to further expand our portfolio in the country and strengthen guest loyalty.”

He added: “We are privileged to have the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing growth and diversification of the UAE’s economy and remain committed to supporting the direction of its visionary leaders to further enhance the tourism sector.”

He said 2018 has been a milestone year for Marriott International in the UAE, with the company anticipating having added over 2,600 rooms by year-end.

The company said it is also seeing an increased demand for branded residences in the UAE and across the region. Across the Middle East and Africa, Marriott currently operates three branded residential properties, including the Bulgari Residences in Dubai, and anticipates to more than double its residential portfolio in the region with eight projects scheduled to open by 2022.

Careem Creating 80,000 new Jobs per month

Dubai-based ride-hailing app Careem is creating around 80,000 new jobs for men and women every month, according to co-founder Mudassir Sheikha. The platform currently has about 800,000 drivers (or captains) who earn a living through Careem.

“We’re creating 70-80,000 new jobs every month, which is probably one of the fastest job-creating engines in the region… captains who work on the platform and earn a living that supports their families send their kids to schools and helps them improve the quality of their lives,” Sheikha told.

While the app does not directly employ anyone (drivers are self-employed), they undergo training and receive other benefits, including emergency funds and free education.

“In the way, we work with these captains, we are not just focused on giving them a way to earn a living, but we take it upon ourselves to look after them. There are many things we’ve done to help them in various times of need,” Sheikha said.

"In the UAE, we have an emergency fund for captains, which they can tap into if they have a need that is not covered by their income. In Pakistan, we recently launched a partnership with some schools that allow our captains to send their kids to school and get an education."

Careem has also been focusing on breaking social taboos, as it has female “captinahs” in Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan. It will also have women drivers in Sudan, where it just recently launched.

The app recently unveiled its first female driver in Saudi Arabia, Enaam Gazi Al-Aswad, as the Gulf kingdom prepares to allow women behind the wheel from June 25. She was selected to become the first “captainah” from among around 3,000 women.

The 43-year-old said she learned how to drive in her native Syria, and has a driving licence from that country, adding that she expects to be able to obtain a Saudi licence when she completes 10 hours of driving tuition under the new laws. She has already received all the necessary training from Careem after being hand-picked by the company soon after last year’s royal decree on women driving.

“When it comes to women, we are working more and more on social taboos to get women to work on the platform as well,” said Sheikha.

"There are quite a lot of female captains who are serving both men and women. In Pakistan, it was a slightly bigger social taboo, but we launched female captains not just behind cars, and we have created a lot of the enabling that infrastructure they need to provide that service as well, because they’re a little more vulnerable to safety so we created special hotlines for them to call our security line to feel safe."

He added that it is an opportunity and a responsibility to create employment opportunities for both men and women.

]”We are working through social taboos one at a time. What we’ve seen happen in places such as Pakistan, which is close to Sudan on the taboo side, is you need some brave women to step up and do it and then share the story. It creates inspiration for other women to follow suit. When they tell their stories, it will create a bigger momentum to address social taboos,” he said.