Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation (MCO) will establish a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia to undertake after-sale service activities in the Middle East.

MCO Saudi Arabia (MCOSA) will also function as a marketing and service base to cover the entire region.

MCOSA will be established as a joint venture between MCO and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) capitalised at SR 1 million, or approximately 24 million yen. MCO will own an 81 per cent share and MC will hold the remaining 19 per cent. The JV is slated to commence operation on July 1.

The new company, which will handle maintenance and inspection of compressor/turbine equipment, will be located in Al Khobar, a city on the east coast, along the Persian Gulf. In close proximity to Al Khobar, Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, is situated in Dhahran and many petrochemical-related companies are concentrated in the Al Jubail area.

MCOSA will initially launch operations with 10 staff members, including Hoju Kobayashi, currently a senior staff member at MCO' Middle East Office, in the position of president.

To date MCO has delivered more than 500 compressor/turbine units to the region.

The company recently licensed its compressor technology to Hangzhou Steam Turbine & Power Group of China and Hyundai Heavy Industries of Korea.-TradeArabia News Service