Galperti Group, the Italian valves manufacturer, has inked a joint venture agreement with the Al Shoabi group to joint venture in Saudi Arabia, and is on the cusp of starting up a new manufacturing facility in Dammam.
“We’ve completed all the paperwork and are pleased to be setting up a joint venture with Al Shoabi,” says Andrea Galperti, the grandson of the company’s founder who started forgework in 1921. “We have the machinery and are now waiting on the necessary permissions.”
Galperti could have its new facility underway in as little as three months, paperwork contingent.
The new facility will take over part of the company’s Saudi-bound out from its hub in Dubai, further bolstering its 26-strong sales office network.
Galperti says his family’s business sets itself apart from other vendors in the crowded marketplace because of its vertical integration, dating back from the company’s roots.
“We forge the metal we use for manufacturing,” he says. “This offers our customers excellent traceability for quality control purposes, and means they only have to visit a single site for vendor inspections.”
The company already supplies innovative quality products such as its double-blocking valve to customers like Sabic and Saudi Aramco. While Galperti Group is raising its profile in Saudi Arabia, Galperti says the company’s policy is to ensure it has a diversified customer base, to mitigate country-specific dips in business and within countries themselves.
After conducting research Galperti is now looking to supply over 100 potential customers across several sectors in Saudi Arabia alone, none of whom are going to underrate products that come up to Saudi Aramco’s stringent standards.
“My main principle is that we have to follow our clients,” Galperti says. “Saudi for us is an adventure, not an easy one, things take a little longer, but we are showing the Saudi market we want to be here and we are serious about working here.”
