Montreal, Quebec (May 30, 2012)  

AMBASSADOR VISITS BOMBARDIER

Accompanied by our Cultural/Commercial Officer, Mr. Laoy Al Eryani and Honourary Consul for Quebec and Ontario, Mr Shirish Suchak, HE Ambassador Khaled Bahah arrived in Montreal to visit the Bombardier Aerospace Product Development Centre (www.bombardier.com ).

They were met by Claudia Cote, Public Affairs and Communications Advisor and then enjoyed a Bombardier Overview Presentation from Haley Dunne, Manager and Senior Spokesperson.  Haley also provided a business aircraft overview which was followed by a commercial aircraft overview by Antonio Ficca, the Manager of Business Development.  Also present was Mr. John Kassis, the Sales Director for their International – Middle East Division.

These overviews provided a fascinating education about the operations of this remarkable Canadian success story.  Bombardier’s investment worldwide is an astounding $17.8 Billion.  It is a major employer with a work force of 70,000 people spread over 25 plants globally.  While planes are a significant portion of their output, trains are also an important part of their business.  Most of their business sales – are generated in Europe, with a whopping 45% of the market,   followed by the USA accounting for 34%, Asia has 15% and the rest of the world has the balance.   Following the fascinating overviews, the group indulged in discussions relating to these operations and touched upon the excellent cooperation that exists between ALSAIDI and Joint Venture companies in Yemen;  and Canadian Bombardier from whom they have purchased airplanes. 

The gentlemen were then taken to see a C-Series mock-up tour, which also involved a touch screen presentation by Antonio.  They then moved to their facility in Dorval where they had a full tour of the Challenger Facility.  In Dorval they were met by Sylvain Miron, who is the Manager of Quality Assurance at the facility and Hani Haddadin, who is the Sales Manager for the Middle East and Africa.  The tour of this facility was extremely interesting and educational.  The Bombardier facilities produce on average four to five planes per week.

The outing was extremely rewarding and helped to establish an understanding of the mechanics of their business, as well as the promotion of an excellent relationship with the Embassy.