TOKYO--Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will establish its Middle East Office in Dubai effective on October 1, 2006. The opening of the office is to respond to increasing business opportunities in the Middle East for large-scale projects related to the improvement of social infrastructure, such as power generation plants, chemical plants and transportation systems. MHI also aims to increase sales of its mass and medium-lot products, such as air-conditioners and industrial-use engines.

The Middle East Office will be located in the Dubai Airport Free Zone adjoining Dubai International Airport. The representative office will provide business support for current projects in addition to activities to research and gather information on future business opportunities. MHI is also considering an eventual upgrade in the status of the office to that of local subsidiary that will coordinates the company's entire operations in the region and serve as a base to provide after-sale services in the region.

Dubai is in the midst of an economic boom as an international hub of trade, finance, physical distribution and tourism. The neighboring Gulf countries are also continuing steady economic growth. In tandem with this development, many large-scale projects related to the improvement of social infrastructure are emerging. MHI has received orders for a large-scale fertilizer plant in Oman in 2004, for the Dubai Metro, a 70 kilometer urban transportation system, and a large-scale power generation/desalination plant for Saudi Arabia in 2005. In total, MHI received 280 billion yen worth of orders from the Middle East in 2005, a sum that accounts for approximately 25% of company's total overseas orders. In 2006, the company has received an order for Phase II construction of the Dubai Metro, too.

With the establishment of the Middle East Office, MHI will further strengthen its approach to large-scale projects being planned in the region including those in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The company also aims to expand sales of its mass- and medium-lot products in the region.