Bechtel has appointed Abdulrahman Al-Ghabban as country manager in Saudi Arabia, making him the first Saudi national to hold the position, the US-owned global engineering, procurement and construction firm has announced.
In a statement, Bechtel said that the appointment was a reaffirmation of its strong commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia reaching its 2030 Vision goals, through the appointment of local nationals for critical positions at the company’s various projects in the Kingdom.
“I am honoured to be the first Saudi national to hold the position as country manager for one of the most respected engineering companies in the world,” said Al-Ghabban.
“Bechtel has a strong footprint in Saudi Arabia and I look forward to helping advance my country’s economic development with all the support that Bechtel can provide.”
Abdul-Rahman Al-Ghabban joined Bechtel in 2013 as business development manager for the Power business unit. In 2015, he was appointed deputy country manager for Saudi Arabia in addition to continuing his business development role. Prior to joining Bechtel, Al-Ghabban worked for more than ten years in both the public and the private sectors in Saudi Arabia.
“We are very proud of our decision to appoint the first Saudi national as country manager for Bechtel in the Kingdom. Bechtel has hired and trained hundreds if not thousands of Saudis over the past several decades because we realize that the strategic objectives of the Kingdom’s economic vision hinges on investing in local talent,” added David Welch, president for International and Government Affairs, Bechtel.
Saudi citizens comprise the highest percentage of local nationals employed by Bechtel world-wide.
Bechtel has been working in Saudi Arabia for over 70 years developing megaprojects from oil and gas facilities to airports and critical infrastructure projects.
Earlier this year, the EPC giant was awarded a contract to set up and operate the National Project Management Organization in the Kingdom’s capital of Riyadh. It is also currently working on Lines 1 and 2 of the Riyadh Metro Project and recently launched a graduate training program to train and hire up to 75 students from the Riyadh College of Technology.