Thales inaugurates new offices in Jeddah

Building on its 40-year relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Thales has consolidated its presence in the country by inaugurating new offices.

The new office highlights the Group’s strategy and ambition to increase local operational capabilities, mainly to serve security and ground transportation projects in view of the Kingdom’s US$100 billion programme to upgrade local infrastructures.

On-going transport projects include the North South Railway, for which Thales is providing signalling, security, communications and fare management systems. In terms of urban rail transportation, Thales has already delivered its SelTrac® Communications Based Train Control solution to the Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro project in Mecca.

In the security domain, Thales is central to the protection of Holy sites, providing traffic flow management systems for the Hajj and hi-tech security solutions for Mecca’s and Madinah’s Holy Mosques. Thales is also securing oil and gas fields and installing security systems for Saudi Aramco, SABIC and the city of Jubail.

“Saudi Arabia, as the guardian of the Holy places, is Islam’s heartland. In this context, we wish to support the Kingdom, the Ministry of Pilgrimage, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and all the involved government agencies in their initiatives to continuously improve the Kingdom’s infrastructures and services. The ultimate aim is to enable millions of pilgrims to carry out their religious observances safely and with ease. We have been working successfully in the country for four decades and we look forward to strengthening our ties with local industries and government agencies.”

Jean-Yves Tolot, Managing Director of Thales in Saudi Arabia

Thales’s industrial presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia dates back to the early 1980’s when a first JV was established to support the Group’s broadcast activities.  Since then, Thales has been involved in a wide spectrum of business activities for the defence and civil markets, from telecom and aerospace to ground transportation and security.

Thales has a history of supporting a wide variety of customers and partners in the Kingdom, including the Ministry of Interior, the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and the Communication and Information Technology Commission, as well as the Saudi Railways company, Saudi Aramco and the Saudi BinLadin Group.

Today, Thales’s presence extends from Riyadh and Jubail to Jeddah. The newly opened facilities in Jeddah are specifically designed to accommodate men and women from the local subsidiary in charge of civil activities for Thales.

Key points

• Thales presence in the country dates back 40 years.
• Saudi Arabia is a key country for Thales for civil business activities such as ground transportation, aerospace and security.
• Thales is already providing solutions to secure the Hajj and the Mecca and Madinah Holy Mosques.

Photo: Holy Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.