Irish Builder Sees 'Great Opportunities' in Kingdom

The Saudi Arabian construction firm is working on the new Sabic Plastics Application Development Center with John Sisk & Son under the alliance.

The center forms part of the Riyadh Techno Valley (RTV) Development at King Saud University.

The announcement was made in Saudi Arabia during the Enterprise Ireland trade mission led by Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Minister Richard Bruton.

The Irish firm has been working with El Seif in Saudi Arabia for almost a year.

Sisk will provide a number of staff to the project including managers and quantity surveyors under the latest collaboration.

"Our partnership with El Seif has been highly beneficial to date and we believe that Sisk are well placed to develop our interests in the Middle East," said Paul Hackett, managing director of John Sisk & Son Middle East.

"With the scale of the projects currently under way in Riyadh, we see great opportunities for our staff to develop their careers working alongside a progressive company like El-Seif Engineering Co," said Hackett.

He also said advances in construction methods made during the Celtic Tiger are highly applicable in Saudi Arabia's current construction boom, which will see around $400 billion spent over the next four to six years.

"The potential for both Sisk and El Seif is substantial and we are hopeful that the relationship will develop and prosper over the coming months and years."

El Seif was also recently selected to construct infrastructure works for the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) on the outskirts of Riyadh.