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By MOHAMMED AL-SULAMI
RAS AL-KHAIR/JUBAIL: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman inaugurated Tuesday a group of basic infrastructure and development projects in Jubail and Ras Al-Khair industrial cities on the Gulf coast.
The inauguration ceremonies were attended by Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif and a number of princes, ministers, government officials, private sector officials, and other dignitaries.
The king inaugurated the Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) and the Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co. (SATORP) in Jubail. The two projects are among the largest facilities in the refining and petrochemicals industries that support the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
The Vision aims to create new industries that will help provide new job opportunities for Saudis, as well as attract foreign investment to the Kingdom. Sadara and SATORP are aligned with these objectives and are the result of successful partnerships between Saudi Aramco and two global companies — the Dow Chemical Company and Total — which are leaders in their respective areas of business.
Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih, who is also chairman of Saudi Aramco, said: “Sadara and SATORP represent a bold undertaking for Saudi Aramco and its respective partners, Dow Chemical and Total. It is a major driver in achieving our goals of greater integration and value addition. They represent the concrete realization of our distinct yet complementary corporate visions it is one way in which Saudi Aramco is helping to deliver on its abiding commitment to the Kingdom.”
The Sadara project is the largest integrated chemicals complex in the world to be built in one phase. It is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and The Dow Chemical Company in Jubail Industrial City. The first phase commenced operations in 2015, and the remaining operating units are scheduled for completion by the end of 2016. The production capacity is more than 3 million tons of various plastics and chemical products annually.
The king also laid the cornerstone of the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries & Services, near Jubail, which was named in his honor during the groundbreaking ceremony. The complex is a commercial maritime project that complements the growth of the Saudi energy industry and helps to meet the development, localization and diversification objectives outlined by Saudi Vision 2030.
The development of the complex will start with a maritime yard as an anchor project to be completed in 2021. It will be managed and maintained by Saudi Aramco’s proposed joint venture with The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, and Lamprell PLC. The facility will offer quality, efficiency and economies of scale, and when completed it will offer vessel and rig build, maintenance, repair and overhaul services. The project will comply with all of the Saudi government’s environmental and sustainability requirements.
At Ras Al-Khair, Al-Falih gave a speech in which he expressed his pleasure at the king's presence on the occasion of the inauguration of the development projects. The projects, he said, would put Ras Al-Khair on the map as a key contributor to an integrated and productive economy as one of the Kingdom's developmental successes and a source of pride.
“Like your father, King Abdulaziz (may he rest in peace), who was the Kingdom’s founder, and who had the vision and insight to launch the Saudi oil industry immediately after the country's unification, you today are inaugurating a comprehensive group of projects for the mineral resources sector in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City, and in turn making it a launch pad to move toward broader development, growth and prosperity for the Kingdom and its people,” said the minister.
“What we celebrate today is a true embodiment of the keenness to diversify sources of income in the national economy and open the doors for strategic industries to operate and flourish,” he added.
“For this, we are committed, under your guidance, to ensure these projects are founded on the same solid foundations that have contributed to the success of previous strategic initiatives, namely: Conscious investment and diligent planning for the country’s resources and wealth; commitment to the highest levels and international standards of planning and implementation; keenness to establish strategic partnerships with relevant international institutions; cautious increase of local content in these projects; serious and consistent investment in national human resources through training, rehabilitation and employment generation.”
“The government has sought to support the development of the mineral resources sector as per new and exceptional competitive outputs, and with large investments exceeding SR130 billion allocated to developing the establishment of basic infrastructure, including trains, water and power plants, ports, networks of gas and sulfur, phosphate and aluminum factories linked to mines founded by Maaden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company. Maaden today is classified among the 10 largest mining companies in the world, only 9 years after it was founded,” he said.
The minister also thanked all involved parties for the notable success, saying, “I take this opportunity to extend my thanks to all our partners, particularly the Saudi Railway company for its outstanding efforts regarding the North South Railway Line Project, which has a length of 3,000 km. It can help Maaden Phosphate and Maaden Aluminum deliver phosphate and bauxite ore from mines in the north and center of the Kingdom to manufacturing areas in the cities of Ras Al-Khair.”
The development and mining infrastructure projects in Ras Al-Khair include the railway project, the mining train, the Ras Al-Khair water desalination and power plant, Ras Al-Khair port, Maaden phosphate mine in Jalamid in the Northern Border Region, Al-Ba’itha bauxite mine in Qassim, Maaden phosphate complex in Ras Al-Khair, and Maaden Aluminum complex also at Ras Al-Khair.
They also include basic infrastructure projects carried out by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, which is the management and operation body in Ras Al-Khair.
© Arab News 2016
