Saudi Aramco signs deals worth $27.5bn

Saudi Aramco hosted its 4th IKTVA Forum & Exhibition this week at the Dhahran Expo Center in Dammam, attracting more than 1,000 local and international energy-sector service and equipment suppliers, manufacturers and small and medium enterprises to explore available investment opportunities with Saudi Aramco in the upstream, chemicals, utilities, non-metallic, IT and cybersecurity, and other areas.

The annual flagship event supports the In Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program, Saudi Aramco’s localization strategy to build a world-class supply chain and establish Saudi Arabia as a globally-competitive energy hub in line with Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s economic diversification program.

Held November 26-27 under the patronage of Prince Saud Bin Naif, Emir of the Eastern Province, the Forum offered presentations, workshops and panels on best practices in navigating such areas as regulatory requirements, financing, R&D and talent development.

In addition to the signing of MoUs and commercial collaborations, an awards program was held to celebrate the program’s success stories for the year (awarded companies are listed below).

IKTVA participation is mandatory for every Saudi Aramco supplier, as the program aims to attain 70 percent local content, create thousands of jobs and export 30 percent of local energy goods and services output by 2021. Partnerships support local content by contributing to job creation, technology transfer, training and development, and R&D. By 2030, the program aims to establish 30 training centers helping prepare 360,000 highly skilled graduates for jobs of the future.

In return, companies with a local presence can take advantage of more than SR1.7 trillion being spent by Saudi Aramco on localization opportunities over the next decade.

“Our 2018 IKTVA Forum marked the half-way point to our local-content goals, and the event has underlined the win-win nature of our program with many of our international suppliers increasing their market share or moving their manufacturing to the Kingdom,” said Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin H. Nasser.

“Over the two-day event, we signed $27.5 billion in a total of 31 commercial collaborations. Companies that have invested here are ideally positioned to benefit further with our signing last month of SR125 billion in business at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, much of which will have a direct impact on IKTVA. As of now, 51 percent of each riyal Saudi Aramco earmarks for materials and services is spent locally.”

The annual IKTVA Forum & Exhibition is the leading global energy supply-chain event, driving additional domestic value and maximizing sustainable, long-term growth for the Kingdom’s changing economy.

The event attracted more than 1,000 companies; some 4,000 participants from 40 countries; and more than 80 exhibitors.