Dubai, UAE & Riyadh, KSA - Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) announced its participation as the Associate Sponsor during the Architectural Lighting Saudi Arabia Summit that is taking place in Riyadh from the 13th till 16th of March.

This event is the only summit in the Middle East which is dedicated to architectural lighting for architects, lighting design professionals and developers. The Middle East has an estimated US$ 2.8 trillion worth of construction projects underway of which the lighting makes up to 5-10% of their total value.

During the summit, Rogier Van der Heide - Vice President of Philips Design and Chief Design Officer of Philips Lighting, will be emphasizing why lighting is important and a key essential in achieving sustainability.

Philips' participation comes in line with making a significant thrust to advance energy efficiency in the GCC and the Middle East as a whole. Philips constantly calls on municipal leaders in the Middle East to incorporate the notion of urban well-being into their planning in order to create more livable cities.

The company has already launched its own initiative called 'Livable Cities' to identify and apply meaningful solutions based on the clear needs and priorities of city living today and into the future.

"Modern cities are thriving, as increasing numbers of people recognize them as stimulating and rewarding environments to live and work in. Latest statistics show that half of the world's population currently lives in a city, and this is projected to increase to a substantial two thirds of the world's population by 2051", says Rogier Van der Heide. "Philips believes that livable cities and sustainable communities can be developed through private and public sector partnerships that help develop the right technology, business model, alliances and cooperation", he adds.

Lighting is an essential component of urban design and research indicates that public and commercial buildings represent 60% of lighting electricity consumption globally. Philips, through city lighting, improves the livability of cities by increasing citizens' sense of comfort, security, safety and pride in their city. Simply by switching to LED lighting solutions developed by Philips, municipalities will be able to achieve their targets for lowering energy consumption and CO2 emissions, saving as much as 40% of the energy used in older lighting technologies. Significantly longer lifetimes for LED luminaires can also considerably lower the cost of operation, benefitting the municipality and the cnsumer alike.

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For further information, please contact:
Natali Fahmi
Corporate Communications
Philips Middle East & Africa
Tel: +9714 3095155
E-mail: natali.fahmi@philips.com