FOUR local companies have formed a consortium to provide support services to the oil and gas, as well as offshore marine industries in the Middle East.

Anchor company Rotary Engineering and its three alliance partners namely Heatec Jietong, Jason Electronics and Pamarine on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to mark their joint venture under International Enterprise (IE) Singapore's International Partners (iPartners) programme.

Each firm has a 25 per cent stake in the joint venture firm, known as iPromar. It will be the first oil and gas consortium to be formed under iPartners, which was launched in 2003 to help local companies form alliances to increase the chances of success in accessing overseas markets.

iPromar aims to achieve projected overseas sales of $10 million by 2013, by managing projects and providing services and products to engineering, procurement and construction contractors in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region.

'Each of us offers different services,' said Rotary Engineering's chairman and managing director, Mr Chia Kim Piow.

'By seeking overseas projects as an alliance, we have a greater competitive edge, thus increasing our chances of penetrating the oil and gas and marine industries in the Middle Eastern market more successfully.'