LG Electronics and its sole distributor in Saudi Arabia, HG Ibrahim Shaker Co Ltd, have announced the inauguration of an air conditioning joint venture factory named LG-Shaker Co Ltd in Riyadh.

Abdullah bin Ahmed Zaniel Ali Reza, the Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Lee Jaegil, Korean Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, were present at the ceremony along with senior LG Electronics and HG Ibrahim Shaker officials.
Located at Al Taweer Industrial City, south of the Second Industrial City in Riyadh, the new LG-Shaker factory has a production capacity of 250,000 units per year currently, which is expected to double within the next five years.
LG holds a 49 per cent stake in the venture with HG Ibrahim Shaker and other partners holding the remainder.
YH Lee, the CEO of LG Digital Appliance Company, said the new factory was LG’s eighth air conditioner production facility in the world.
“Saudi Arabia is the biggest market in the Middle East and LG-Shaker Company will build the complete local business system from product development to production,” Lee said.
The official added that the new factory would afford transfer of technology and generate jobs for Saudis. The products manufactured would take into account the environmental conditions in Saudi Arabia.
The company would begin exports soon to Gulf states and neighbouring countries.
H G Ibrahim Shaker is the biggest partner for LG’s business in the world and has targeted sales of $1.4 billion over a period from 2007 to 2011.
Hassan Shaker, CEO of HG Ibrahim Shaker Co, highlighted the after-sales service and support that his firm extended to its dealers and end users through 17 Shaker service centres, over 100 mobile units and 250 technicians. This is in addition to 10 authorised service centres. Shaker estimated that the Saudi market for air conditioners was growing at an average rate of more than 7 per cent annually and the size was expected to be $800 million this year. He said LG-Shaker Company would play a pivotal role in the growth of the air conditioner trade in the region. 
Outside Saudi Arabia, LG operates air conditioner plants in Korea, China, Thailand, India, Turkey, Brazil and Vietnam. It has a technical alliance with a plant in Iran.
LG-Shaker Co will double the size of its air conditioning R&D team by 2010, and increase R&D investment to 10 per cent of total sales.
LG Electronics is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications, employing more than 82,000 people working in 114 operations including 82 subsidiaries around the world. Global sales in 2007 global sales were $44 billion.
 LG comprises four business units - Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display and Digital Media. It is the world’s leading producer of mobile handsets, flat panel TVs, air conditioners, front-loading washing machines, optical storage products, DVD players and home theater systems.