According to the company’s website press release on March 2, 2023, SABIC participated in a ceremony held in Riyadh on March 1 under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to announce the first package of Shareek projects involving large companies in Saudi Arabia. The event was held in the presence of a number of dignitaries, senior businessmen and heads of major companies participating in the program.
Shareek was launched in March 2021 by the Crown Prince to enhance partnership with the private sector, develop partnership between the public and private sectors, and support sustainable growth to build the national economy.
Khalid Al-Dabbagh, SABIC Chairman, and Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC CEO (A), attended the event when the company signed a framework agreement with Shareek.
During the ceremony, SABIC announced a strategic project to manufacture catalysts with the aim of transforming Saudi Arabia into a manufacturing hub for specialized materials in line with the national industrial strategy. The project will contribute to industrial advancements as envisioned in Saudi Vision 2030, including improving competitiveness of the energy sector, developing industries associated with the oil-and-gas industries, and raising the level of local content in this area.
Al-Dabbagh praised the determination of the Crown Prince to lead Saudi Arabia’s strategic direction on the path of the Vision, unprecedented in the history of the Kingdom, the region and the world. “The Shareek program is a quantum leap in national development, complementing the achievements of the past, aimed at building a prosperous national economy and attracting investments,” he added.
The continuous progress of the national economic indicators, he said, confirms the wisdom of the leadership in designing the Vision and its programs, especially those related to the business environment and the investment ecosystem, and stimulating growth in the private sector to maximize its role in the economy.
Al-Dabbagh also thanked the ministries of energy and industry for their support and enablement of such projects. He further praised the Shareek program for its success and highlighted its importance to achieve desired objectives.
Al-Fageeh participated in a panel discussion with the CEOs of large companies in Saudi Arabia, where he stressed that the catalyst industry is the cornerstone of the energy and petrochemical industries. He highlighted its key role in accelerating the transfer and localization of modern and advanced technologies in the petrochemical industry. This would contribute to raising energy efficiency and helping SABIC reach its carbon neutrality targets by 2050.
He added that despite the Saudi leadership in the energy and petrochemical industries, the Kingdom relies, to a large extent, on catalyst imports, which increases operational risks in the event of any supply chain disruption. “SABIC's investment in catalysts will contribute to securing our needs and that of the petrochemical manufacturers in the region.”
SABIC’s strategy for manufacturing catalysts is based on knowledge acquisition, applying the latest technologies and making improvements to them before localization. To this end, SABIC has set a two-stage approach. The first is to fully acquire Scientific Design, which was done last year, and secure a key catalyst used by SABIC for the glycol manufacturing. The second is to take the first phase forward with three new plants for the catalysts used in the manufacture of polymers and chemicals. Moreover, SABIC is collaborating with Shareek to identify the most important enablers and drivers to build the catalyst industry in the Kingdom.
