Canon Middle East expands its regional presence with operations in Saudi Arabia
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Canon Middle East (CME), a provider of imaging technologies and services, on Wednesday announced that it is expanding its regional presence by establishing direct operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The announcement came during a signing ceremony between Canon and Ali Zaid Al Quraishi and Brothers (AZAQ) to formally establish Canon Saudi Arabia, which will become the largest regional direct presence for Canon.
Canon Saudi Arabia will operate from Riyadh and, with an additional two branches in Jeddah and Khobar, will be become the company’s largest operation in the region. With over 300 employees by 2020, Canon Saudi Arabia will directly contribute to the Kingdom’s economy and industry diversification strategy, as outlined in Vision 2030.
“Establishing Canon Saudi Arabia is an integral part of our strategy of becoming closer to our customers through our direct presence in key markets. Saudi Arabia is witnessing a transformation into a more diversified economy, with several industries developing and establishing a presence in the region’s largest market,” said Anurag Agrawal, Managing Director, Canon Middle East.
“Through our products and business solutions, Canon Saudi Arabia aims to help customers address these opportunities and establish thriving businesses,” he added. “The joint venture between Canon and AZAQ comes as a result of a long business relationship between Canon and Al Quraishi Group, that is 50 years in the making; and this development comes as natural progression of our successful business ties,” said Faisal Al Quraishi, Chairman, AZAQ.
“AZAQ sees this joint venture as a contribution to the country’s 2030 vision, whereby Canon, a global brand, contributes to the Kingdom’s transformation through its innovative technologies and solutions. Furthermore, the partnership will be highly committed to train young Saudi nationals, as well as advance technology in private and government sectors alike,” he added.
The new company in Saudi Arabia will report to Canon Middle East, which will continue in its role as a regional sales organisation for the Middle East region. Following the successful development of Canon Emirates, Canon Middle East’s operation in the UAE, this strategic step allows Canon to further expand the sales of its products across the Saudi market, where there is a growing need for digital and other technology-based imaging services.
Digital business solutions
As the government, and other large organisations, seeks to integrate the latest digital business solutions to become more agile, competitive, efficient, reduce operational costs and to adapt to today’s changing business environment, Canon’s suite of products and services address challenges and allow for streamlining of processes to achieve growth through organisation-wide digital transformation.
These services are particularly in demand, with the growing number of small to medium enterprises (SME) that require fast, efficient digital systems to operate. Currently, SMEs make up over 91 per cent of the businesses in Saudi Arabia, and by assisting their technology and imaging infrastructures, Canon is supporting The Vision 2030 directive of increasing the gross domestic product contribution of small businesses to 35 per cent by 2030, forming the backbone of Saudi Arabia’s diversified economy.