One of the world’s top fire and security services firms has announced it has embarked on an aggressive sales and marketing drive in the Gulf to capture a greater share of business.

Connecticut (US)-based UTC Fire and Security, in its latest move, has opened a state-of-the-art training centre in Bahrain and launched other initiatives in recent months to build on what a senior official, Otto de Bont, said was a volume of projects worth $122 million in the pipeline. The company’s main focus would be fire safety solutions though security service systems were also gaining importance.

“We will be increasingly concentrating on the video surveillance market and in line with this we’re launching next year the Prism, a video management system that will redefine surveillance technology,” de Bont said.

About the Prism, he said: “It’s a cut above the traditional system. It enables more efficient monitoring of an area by specifically routing attention on domains that show abnormal activity or clustering of people.”

De Bont, president of UTC’s Global Security Products business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the company was riding on the back of business worth $420 million in the Middle East this year including $100 million from the electronics segment.

“At present Saudi Arabia and Qatar are our biggest markets and we will continue to play a big role in university and airport projects in Saudi Arabia and the massive infrastructure development taking place in Qatar in preparation for the Qatar Fifa World Cup.”

UTC is keen on having a greater involvement in commercial and residential projects in Bahrain, Riyadh and Jeddah. The company has announced plans to launch a fire safety demo centre in Dubai where top-notch fire-fighting training will be imparted.

The Bahrain training centre, which opened last month, was an important step in UTC’s development strategy in the Mena region, de Bont highlighted.

Huge potential
The facility would help UTC secure the regional market where potential was huge in various sectors including oil and gas for the products and services it provided, said the official, adding that the centre would equip personnel with skills to run high-tech security systems and interpret complexities of installation procedures and maintenance.

Supported by Bahrain organisations Tamkeen and the Economic Development Board (EDB), it occupies 6,000 sq ft at BNH Tower in Seef District.

“There is an expanding need in the Middle East for technically trained professionals who are able to handle residential, commercial and industrial security applications. The centre will help facilitate development of skills among Bahrainis and other professionals in the region,” said de Bont.

“One of the fundamental pillars of Bahrain’s economic development initiatives is investment in human capital,” commented Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, EDB chief executive. “The establishment of centres such as this one will support specialist training for Bahrainis and attract trainees from across the region.”

Dr Nasser Ali Qaedi, Tamkeen’s head of planning and business development, remarked: “This state-of-the-art facility will contribute to making Bahrain one of the major technical training centres in the region.”

Present at the opening were UTC officials Lamya Alhaddad, HR & training university manager, and Georges Hachem, general manager, Middle East & North Africa.