Top procurement staff from the Saudi Bin Laden Group, one of the world's biggest construction businesses, will meet Northern Ireland companies in Saudi Arabia this week.

The meeting with the $5 billion Saudi Bin Laden Group has been lined up by Invest Northern Ireland and will take place in Jeddah during a trade mission to Saudi Arabia.

The meetings are being set up by a Belfast born engineer, Shazad Khan. Mr Khan, who graduated in electrical and mechanical engineering from Queen's University, has worked for the Bin Laden group for over 20 years and is now the group’s contract procurement manager.

Alan Hingston, Invest NI's Trade Director, said: "We met Shazad during the trade mission to Saudi Arabia in January 2008 and he offered to set up meetings with the Bin Laden team the next time we were in Saudi. We've been maintaining contact with him and decided to accept his offer and to set up a second mission, from 23-30 October.

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"It's a marvellous business opportunity for our companies because the Saudi Bin Laden Group has vast interests in construction, engineering, manufacturing and telecommunications.

"As well as holding huge contracts for the construction of six new economic cities and major highways in Saudi, the group has extensive interests in other Mid East markets including the Lebanon and Egypt. It also has the exclusive contract for work on the Holy Sites at Mecca.

"The construction market in Saudi is booming due to huge oil revenues. The meeting will give our companies a tremendous opportunity to make contact with key decision makers."

Fourteen companies are taking part in the Invest NI mission to the Saudi business centres of Jeddah and Riyadh. The group includes five companies from the NI materials handling sector.

Leading the group will be Dr Bill McGinnis, Chairman of the McAvoy Group, a major UK manufacturer of modular buildings, who has been doing business in Saudi Arabia for over 30 years.

Dr McGinnis said: "Saudi Arabia has long been a feature of Invest NI's business development programme. It has become one of our most popular and successful markets because it is an excellent marketplace in which to do business.

"The companies in this delegation are all experienced exporters and many already have business in Saudi Arabia. There is a strong representation from Northern Ireland's world leading materials handling industry; particularly the mobile crushing, screening and recycling sectors in which Northern Ireland is now an acknowledged global centre of excellence in machinery design and manufacture."

As well as materials handling companies, the delegation includes several companies offering expert security products and services, airport equipment, electricity generation machinery and personal diagnostic equipment for various markets.

(PR/JM)