Charlotte, NC, Jan. 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VIDEO from Siemens and Synaptic Digital: Ex-Im Bank Approves Export Financing for Power Generation Equipment Supporting 825 Jobs at Siemens North Carolina Plant
$638 Million Sale Contributes to Obama Administration American Jobs Initiative
The board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States at its Thursday (Jan. 5) meeting approved a $638 million direct loan to finance the sale by Siemens Energy, Inc. of gas and steam turbines to be installed in Saudi Arabia.
See video from Siemens at: http://inr.synapticdigital.com/siemens/gasturbines/
This is the second order being produced by 825 new highly-skilled workers at Siemens' Charlotte, North Carolina facility. The plant was specifically constructed, and the work force hired, to produce American-made goods to serve markets around the world, from Latin America to the Middle East, from North America to Asia.
The announcement comes today as President Obama hosts a forum at the White House with CEOs of large and small companies to discuss efforts to bring jobs back to America. As part of this forum, the President will meet with business leaders to discuss the advantages of manufacturing in the United States and what can be done to encourage more companies to insource American jobs.
"This order represents a real vote of confidence in our Nation's workforce," said Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of Ex-Im Bank. "Siemens, a global leader in manufacturing, has chosen to build a plant in the U.S. specifically to produce equipment for export. The skills and productivity of American workers are a big reason why that plant is there, and I'm proud that Ex-Im's financing helped win this order."
Ex-Im Bank financing helped Siemens win the sale against competition from Japan, Germany and Korea.
"Siemens-Ex-Im Bank partnership recognizes an all-important fact about America's place in the global economy: the rest of the world is eager to do business with the United States," said Randy Zwirn, President and CEO, Siemens Energy Inc. "With a highly skilled workforce behind us, our newly expanded Charlotte energy hub will produce the world's most technologically advanced gas turbines helping to meet the world's growing energy demands."
The turbines in this sale are part of an over $2 billion project involving the construction and operation of a combined cycle, gas-fired Independent Power Plan (IPP) with a capacity of 4,000 megawatts. It is located in Qurayyah on the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The project involves the export of ten Siemens Model F5 gas turbines, 18 gas turbine and steam turbine generators, ancillary equipment and services from the U.S.
The borrower is Hajr for Electricity Production Company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The project will sell capacity and energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Saudi Electricity Company. This is the second IPP that Ex-Im Bank has financed in Saudi Arabia.
ABOUT EX-IM BANK
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past six years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $3.7 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 -- an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales -- also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.
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