Westmeath-based company Woodfit Ltd, has announced that it has secured a contract of €1.5m as part of the construction of Princess Noura University in Saudi Arabia.

The announcement was made during this week's Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates led by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Mr Batt O'Keeffe.

Woodfit, a second generation family company employing 28 people in Athlone, is a specialist joinery company. The company manufactures specialist acoustic and non acoustic timber panelling.

Princess Noura University is an all women's campus initiated by King Abdullah which on completion will have the capacity to educate 30,000 students per annum. This is the largest construction project in the world with 125,000 people working daily on the site.

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As an Enterprise Ireland client, Woodfit visited Saudi Arabia in November 2009 and following on introductions organised by Enterprise Ireland, Woodfit initiated a successful joint venture with Al Khaldia Hallstage.

Al Khaldia specialises in fitting out and furnishing auditoria and theatres from seating, to fabric panelling, carpeting and AV equipment.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister O'Keeffe described the deal as "a significant contract win for an ambitious outward-focused Irish firm".

He said: "Woodfit has shown how a small Irish firm can win a prestigious international contract by tailoring high-quality innovative product lines to specific customer demands.

"The Saudi Arabian construction market is the largest sector in the Middle East-North African region with projects worth over $215 billion under way this year.

"I would urge other Irish construction firms to follow Woodfit's example in securing business in the region so that we can strengthen our indigenous enterprise backbone," he said.

(CD/BMcC)