Building Roads to Friendship

Chrissie Lu

February 1983

中文

The Shaar Descent Highway is located in rugged terrain, making construction a major challenge.

Last month, Sinorama published part one of a two-part report on Sino-Saudi Arabian cooperative projects in agriculture and fisheries. This month the report concludes with a description of the activities of other ROC technicians working in Saudi Arabia.

To develop technology in industry, the government of Saudi Arabia has hired many skilled technicians from all over the world. Specialists from the Republic of China are at the forefront of this effort, engaged in such fields as electrical power generation, transportation, medicine and engineering, as well as agriculture and fisheries as described in the first part of this report.

These specialists are used to working in the tropics, and harsh conditions in remote areas of Saudi Arabia, where their skills are needed most, do not reduce their enthusiasm for work.

Says chief electric power generation consultant Li Cheng-chu, "There are many foreign consultants working with the Ministry of Industrial Power Generation. We try to put in our best efforts. When we encounter problems, the 70-odd Chinese technicians at the ministry hold meetings to find solutions. Sometimes we call back home for technical advice."

The largest group of ROC technicians in Saudi Arabia is composed of engineers, totaling some 7,000, who mainly work with the Retired Servicemen's Engineering Agency and the BES Engineering Corp. They mostly work on development projects in the interior, such as building roads, canals, industrial parks and airports. Established in 1956, the RSEA was at first responsible for numerous engineering projects in Taiwan. But expanded to overseas projects in 1965. The largest company of its kind in the ROC, RSEA now has a good reputation worldwide. Half of its projects are overseas, and most of these are in Saudi Arabia. RSEA opened an office in Saudi Arabia 10 years ago. Since then contracts worth more than US$1.23 billion have been awarded.

Of the many projects in Saudi Arabia, the most noteworthy is the Shaar Descent Highway, which is of great importance to development because it connects the prosperous Abha highland region to the west coast. Geographical conditions made it a difficult project requiring 12 tunnels and 19 bridges. The longest tunnel is 640 meters, and one bridge is 240 meters long and in parts as high as a 22-story building. The highway was begun in 1978 and completed on schedule four years later.

The Saudi government has asked the RSEA to build another highway connecting the highland to the coast, based on the Shaar model.

Another important project for RSEA is the harbor at Jeddah, whose first stage has already been completed. The second stage construction calls for the forestation of 45 hectares, a new challenge for RSEA.

Saudi Arabia is an important market for construction companies worldwide. In addition to companies from developed countries, there are many contenders from developing countries, such as Thailand, Korea and the Philippines. In the wake of rapid development in Taiwan, wages are relatively high, and as a result, some 40 percent of RSEA and BES employees are foreigners. Although BES, only began bidding for tenders in Saudi Arabia in 1976, later than most construction companies, it quickly acquired a good reputation and now is a favored contractor. It currently employs 3,000 workers and technicians from Taiwan in Saudi Arabia.

Because BES was unfamiliar with conditions in Saudi Arabia, it started with small-scale projects, such as the construction of stormwater drains in Jeddah. Although this was a difficult and unprofitable job, it enabled BES to gain experience and a reputation for good work.

Recently, BES was engaged in part of the construction of airports at Riyadh and Jeddah, and its good work persuaded the Saudis to award them a US$250 million contract to build part one and two of the new airport at Dhahran. Although BES is an experienced airport builder, having participated in the construction of Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, the task in Saudi Arabia will prove to be an exciting challenge for the company.

After engineering, the next most important area for cooperation between the ROC and Saudi Arabia is in medicine. At present, there are 1,200 doctors and medical staff from Taiwan working in the country. In 1978 the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei and the New Jeddah Clinic Hospital signed a 10-year cooperative agreement.

Perhaps the greatest difficulty facing ROC medical staff working in Saudi Arabia is the lack of a common language. But despite such difficulty, more than 30 graduates from the National Taiwan University Medical School volunteer to go to Saudi Arabia each year. Many experienced doctors and professors also go there to help out.

An example is Prof. Chuang Che-yen, a specialist in internal medicine at the NTU Hospital. Dr. Chuang has already been to Saudi Arabia on several three-month tours of duty, encouraging younger doctors from Taiwan to work there.

There are more than 10,000 specialists in such fields as agriculture, engineering and medicine from the ROC working in Saudi Arabia. All are making their contribution to the strengthening of Sino-Saudi relations based on the spirit of friendship and cooperation.

[Picture Caption]

Construction projects undertaken by RSEA in Saudi Arabia. 1. The Shaar Descent Highway is located in rugged terrain, making construction a major challenge. 2. One of the many tunnels along the Shaar Descent Highway. 3. RSEA engineers hard at work.

1. An RSEA employee in Saudi Arabia. 2. Greenification work at the Jeddah Harbor includes computer controlled irrigation. 3. Working under the hot Saudi sun. 4. The officers' recreation center at the Jeddah Harbor. 5. A view of the Jeddah Harbor. 6. A crane operator.

BES Engineering is building the new airport at Dhahran. 1.2. BES is working day and night to complete the airport ahead of schedule. 3. The Dhahran airport project requires much heavy machinery.

1. Foot prints in the sand. 2. This industrial park is another BES Engineering project in Saudi Arabia. 3. BES Engineering staff housing near Jeddah. 4. Here a water truck moistens the soil in preparation for the airport's construction.

1. Taiwan's Veterans General Hospital medical staff in an operating theater in Saudi Arabia. 2. Chinese and other foreign doctors work together in Saudi Arabia. 3. This swimming pool is part of the recreation facilities for staff at the Hofuf Hospital. 4. A typical scene in Saudi Arabia. 5. The Hofuf Hospital shop for foreign staff. 6. Vegetables grown by ROC technicians working in the isolated interior of Saudi Arabia.