Our opportunity to be part of a UK Security Trade mission to KSA
Our business development manager, Muhammad Short, was recently part of a UK security solutions trade mission to Saudi Arabia. Here he recaps on his experience of showcasing our ExMesh™ fencing solutions to the KSA market.
The trade mission group was made up of around 20 UK companies, all with a connection to security and looking to do business in KSA. As you can imagine in this digital age the majority of the companies were tech related however, there were still around five companies that manufactured physical security solutions. These were typically hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) providers and companies who develop barriers – we were the only fencing company as part of the delegation, which felt pretty special.
The whole trip can be summed up as fast paced, jam packed, informative and extremely exciting and impressive – in terms of the projects that the KSA Government is driving forward.
But if you’re looking for a bit more detail on what they are developing and what I believe will be world leading keep reading…
On the first day we attended a number of presentations detailing some of the key giga projects that they have in development such as NEOM, Dhiriyah Gate & Red Sea Global, as well as learning more about doing business in KSA with success stories from BAE and Atkins.
NEOM, one of five giga projects and is the size of Belgium!
In summary if you’ve not heard of the project, a few years ago it was just desert and in seven years there will be cities, infrastructure, industry, ports, airports etc. They are effectively building a first world country from scratch.
NEOM, the biggest and most prominent of its five giga projects, will have a border but will be under KSA control though it will have separate laws and its own prison.
Currently, 70,000 construction workers are housed there with plans for this to increase to 350,000 by the end of the year and it’s likely to get up to 500,000+ people.
They have four focus areas where our innovative security fencing systems can play a part and integrate with other systems such as CCTV, radar, motion detection and through to artificial intelligence (AI) and access control. Those areas are:
- Prevention
- Prediction
- Control centres
- Automated response
The presentation detailed their ambitions to also include the use of drone police at perimeters, so now you can get more of a picture of why I summarised the trip and what I learnt as impressive and hugely exciting.
Dhiriyah Gate Development Authority, billed as a destination like no other
Located North West of Riyadh, Dhiriyah is a historic city and the birthplace of KSA. At the heart of the development is the At-Turaif, a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the home of the first house of the Al Saud family and capital of the first Saudi State.
The giga project is developing what will become a heritage and cultural capital of KSA. When complete it’s estimated to attract 27 million visitors a year and provide a home to more than 100,000 people in the area.
Its objectives are to preserve and protect At-Turaif, whilst providing a thriving community with opportunities and an ecosystem. And attract tourism to explore the Saudi Arabian culture and provide financial stability.
A key consideration in its development is aesthetics – blending heritage and culture without compromising beauty. As such, our Securilath™ security mesh would be a great fit to target harden critical areas as it can be rendered over, providing a discreet security measure that is LPCB tested and accredited. More info here.
Our architectural cladding and fencing mimic Islamic art’s symmetry and repeating patterns as well as offer stylistic light, shadows and reflection, whilst providing a strong and durable physical barrier.
Red Sea tourism destination – one of the world’s last true hidden gems
Pioneered by Red Sea Global, this is the most touristic giga project, with plans for it to be home to 50 hotels and 1,000 residential properties by 2030, with its own airport.
As with previous projects mentioned aesthetics are key, playing upon natural beauty and not wanting to see physical barriers. This project also prefers to look more towards seamless and invisible security. Again, playing into our strengths of innovative security solutions that provide the required strength and resilience as well as looking good and not becoming an eyesore to its surroundings.
Following all of these presentations at the embassy we benefitted from an evening networking reception where I was able to make some fantastic contacts and discuss the sheer scale and opportunities around the projects being developed.
The next two days we were introduced to more companies that are working in KSA and were exposed to the ways of working. We also explored Digital City in Riyadh where we toured the headquarters of Safe Security, a global leader in cybersecurity and digital business risk quantification.
I also quite enjoyed Digital City’s diamond theme, which resonates well with the diamond shaped apertures of our expanded metal mesh. And on the last day I did a bit of #meshspotting myself just outside Masmak Fort…
If you would like to know more about our capabilities to design and manufacture innovative expanded metal mesh security products you can contact the team on +44 (0)1429 867 388 or email fencing@exmesh.co.uk.
You can also browse our products in our perimeter security fencing brochure, available in both English and Arabic.
