LiuGong opens its Middle East headquarters in Dubai.

LiuGong has opened its Middle East regional headquarters in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai.

The forklift and construction equipment maker will use the Dubai office as a sales hub and spare parts distribution centre, and to provide technical support to its customer base in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The new 2,200 sqm (23,680 sqft.) facility was opened by Zhan Jing Bao, China's consul general in Dubai. Also attending were LiuGong Machinery president Zeng Guang'an; LiuGong Middle East FZE chairman Li Yu Ning; LiuGong Middle East FZE president York Liang; and general manager of overseas sales Luo Guo Bing.

Zeng says the opening of the Dubai headquarters is a "landmark" in LiuGong's global expansion plans. "As one of the world's top 20 construction equipment manufacturers, LiuGong already has a strong footprint across the MENA region, which accounts for nearly 10% of our international revenues.

"The Middle East is a strategic market for us, and our new facility will serve as a hub to meet the growing demand for our quality construction machinery that will drive the massive infrastructure development investments currently ongoing across the region."

The new facility is expected to generate over USD100 million in revenue annually.

"The Dubai office brings us closer to our customers and dealers, to meet any demand for machinery or spare parts swiftly. The office will help our customers to enhance their efficiency by reducing the time for technical support, and enable us to introduce to the Middle East region the latest products developed by our global R&D centres," says LiuGong Middle East FZE president Liang.

LiuGong started its MENA operations 10 years ago and has 10 key dealers in strategic markets. The Dubai facility will stock parts and machines, which will be imported from China and other LiuGong global manufacturing sites. They will be tested in Dubai and made available for customers in the region. The facility will also provide training programs for LiuGong's regional dealers and customers.

LiuGong has 20 global manufacturing facilities, nine parts depots and a dealer network across 90 countries providing some 1,800 sales outlets. It also has 40 research divisions and over 13,000 staff including more than 750 engineers.