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Manufacturer Glidepath has won a deal to supply baggage-handling systems in the soon-to-be-refurbished Jeddah airport as a result of its participation in New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Middle East Beachhead programme.
Glidepath joined the NZTE programme in Dubai last year. This week it landed a US$12 million ($17.5 million) contract to provide baggage-handling systems in Jeddah, the closest major city to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
It will be Glidepath's biggest sale in the Middle East, where until now it had been achieving sales of between US$1 million and US$2 million.
Company founder and chairman Ken Stevens said the local presence was crucial in beating off competition from the likes of global heavyweights Siemens to get the project, which will take up to a year to complete.
"That's what people want - to see you. They want to pick up the phone and see you in an hour."
Stevens - who compares breaking into export markets to kicking and scratching like an "old chook" - said work on the project would begin immediately at the company's Waitakere facilities.
Glidepath is one of seven companies operating out of the Middle Eastern beachhead in Dubai Internet City, a special zone in Dubai where foreign companies can operate without the requirement for 51 per cent local ownership.
Stevens was the 2006 recipient of the World Class New Zealand award for Manufacturing, presented by the Kiwi Expat Association.
The 2007 awards will be held tonight in Auckland as part of NZTE's New Thinking conference.
Stevens is also the business champion for the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Export Year initiative.
