AMMAN — Founded in 1987, Petra Engineering Industries Co. is
a family-owned business that produces and exports a wide variety of heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment to various parts of the
world, including the US, Switzerland, and other countries.
اضافة اعلان
From standard split units to custom HVAC pieces, Petra’s
products are engineered entirely by Jordanian experts and professionals,
operating out of the company’s three main factories in Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The company caters to specialized industries like the oil
and gas sector and large data centers amongst others, according to their needs,
Board Member Firas Abu Wishah explained to Jordan News.
“That is our niche, as opposed to standardized mass
production of HVAC equipment. We engineer solutions customized to meet our
clients’ needs,” he added.
The young board member explained that, despite common
misconceptions, Petra is a manufacturer, not an assembler.
Today, Petra’s innovative engineering machinery and
equipment is being exported to more than 50 countries around the world, with
Saudi Arabia and Qatar representing the company’s largest markets, Firas
explained.
Diversification of Petra’s value proposition, beyond
standardization, has enabled the company to excel and retain its operations
despite the economic situation and the pandemic, he emphasized.
Petra is now expanding its industrial facilities in Jordan,
which employ around 3,000 people, all of whom are Jordanian, vice chairman of
the company’s board of directors and Firas’ father, Omar Abu Wishah, told
Jordan News.
“Petra exports 90 percent of its products and has been able
to penetrate some of the world’s most competitive markets, including the US,”
the senior board member said.
Highlighting the importance of the industrial manufacturing
sector, the vice chairman said that Petra brought some $140 million into the
Jordanian economy in 2020.
“We exported to NASA, Tesla, Google, Amazon, Hyatt hotel
group, Hilton hotel group, Marriot Bonvoy hotel group, W Hotels — including
Amman — and the Abdali Boulevard, among many other clients,” the vice chairman
added.
Petra is one of the first companies in Jordan to fully
utilize the Jordan-USA free trade agreement, exporting around $50 million worth
of HVAC machinery and equipment, a value likely to grow this year, Firas said.
The company’s success has even drawn the second generation
of the family to join the legacy business, with cousins and relatives working
together to see the success of Petra.
Petra Engineering Industries Co. was founded by Osama Ali,
the chairman, whose son Omar Ali is today also a member of the board, along
with the vice chairman’s son, Firas, Omar Abu Wishah, and Dalia Ali.
The two families, bound by marriage, came together to
establish one of the most successful family businesses in Jordan and the
region, Firas stated to Jordan News.
“I was raised at the old factory in Mwaqqar, just like my
cousins, including Dalia, who also worked at the company when she graduated
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a marketing executive, and is now
a board member, with an amazing career in arts outside of the family business,”
he added.
The second generation of Petra executives and partners also
shared in the visions of their fathers, according to Firas, and have worked for
years to sustain that vision.
The company’s success throughout the years sets a benchmark
for all Jordanian industrialists, family businesses, and exporters, with their
innovation, far-sightedness, and capacity for customization, which helps target
high added-value niche markets, he said.
The latest of Petra’s projects in 2020 and 2021 include
setting up HVAC systems for a large data center in Zurich, Switzerland, Firas
revealed.
After the factory expansions that are currently underway,
Petra is planning to expand in new markets in Asia, South America, and Europe.
In the next 10 years, they hope to be one of the top five leaders and
forerunners of the air-conditioning industry in the world, Vice Chairman Abu
Wishah said.
“We exist on all five continents but we are not in every
country yet,” Firas told Jordan News.
Petra’s plans for the next 10 years are to establish a
presence in every country in the world, by the end of 2031, “and we will,” the
vice chairman concluded.
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