Business & Money | Tuesday 23 May, 2017 12:27 am |

During her first official visit to Saudi Arabia, the First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Trump visited the All-Women Business Process Services & IT Center in Riyadh. Hosted by HE Majed Alkassabi, Minister for Commerce and Investment and Hisham Al Bahkali, President & CEO, GE Saudi Arabia & Bahrain, the First Lady took the opportunity to talk about the essential role of empowering women throughout the world.

 

Announced in 2013 by partners Saudi Aramco, Tata Consultancy Services (NYSE: TCS) and GE (NYSE: GE), with the shared vision of partnering with the Kingdom to drive economic transformation, human capital development and job creation for highly-qualified Saudi women graduates – today the center employs ~1,000 women with plans to continue to grow further.

 

The First Lady spoke with a number of Saudi women about empowerment in the workforce, juggling motherhood and a demanding job, and children being our future.  She engaged in conversations about the importance of creating opportunities for Saudi women that help grow their participation in the workforce, a key aim of Saudi Vision 2030.

 

Hisham Bahkali said: “We are exceptionally proud of the unique role played by our All-Women Business Process Services & IT Center in the Kingdom and across the region. We are truly honored that the First Lady of the United States visited the center, spending time with the women discussing their education, work and aspirations. With our partners, GE has been a pioneer in creating the right environment for our Saudi women, offering them a platform to grow and achieve their full potential.”

 

This pioneering initiative by the three global business leaders is underpinned by extensive talent development programs for employees. To date, more than 2,400,000 hours of intensive training in various disciplines has been provided. In addition, the center management have established partnerships with leading universities and academia in Saudi Arabia, to incorporate Business Process Services and Information Technology relevant content into their curricula in an effort to build the local talent pipeline.

 

Huned Ujjainwala, General Manager, GE Global Operations Middle East Turkey and Africa, added: “A close partnership between TCS, Aramco and GE, the amazing talent in Saudi Arabia and our domain experts, has proven to be a winning model for us to create this new industry in the Kingdom. The culture is focused on delivery, quality and process improvement, with an overall commitment to provide service excellence to all customers. Our success over the past three years is testament to the commitment of the team and we will continue to grow.”

 

 

GE and Saudi Aramco are anchor clients of the center, with services now extended to include Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and the Saudi Ministry of Economy & Planning. The center is working on expanding its scale by exploring opportunities with potential customers in the government and private sectors.

 

With a presence of more than 80 years, three offices and seven facilities, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest GE workforce in the Middle East, with over 2,000 employees driving the Aviation, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Power and Digital businesses.