DUBAI (Reuters) - National oil giant Saudi Aramco said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries to make engines and marine pumps in the kingdom.
The manufacturing facility, which is expected to create over 650 jobs, will be at the site of a $5.2 billion shipyard which Aramco and partners plan to build at Ras Al Khair on Saudi Arabia's east coast, Aramco said in a statement on Wednesday.
Also involved in the project is the Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Co, founded in 2014 to help develop the Saudi economy beyond oil exports. Its shareholders are Aramco, top petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries, and the Public Investment Fund, Riyadh's main sovereign wealth fund.
The companies hope to start operations at the new facility by the end of 2019. It would make 4-stroke engines under Hyundai's HiMSEN brand, supporting their use in remote power plants as well as marine applications for very large and small vessels, Aramco said.
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia)