SABIC is making responsible changes to its business vision to meet future sustainability challenges, CEO tells Doha forum

Recognizing that sustainability megatrends will drive the need for change in business and national vision, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is integrating changes into its business strategy and priorities to position the company and the nation for the challenges faced now and in the future.

Speaking at a panel discussion on “Innovative Business Models in the Middle East” at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha on December 3, Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, said that to accomplish its sustainability mission, the petrochemical industry, including SABIC, will need to make significant contributions and innovations. “It will require collaboration with government and all contributors across the value chain. We need many solutions; but solutions to tough challenges have always been what businesses must provide if it expects to sustain itself.”

SABIC’s sustainability strategy will require the company to use finite natural resources more wisely and invest in renewal resources, especially energy; reduce the impact of the company’s manufacturing and distribution processes through energy and material efficiency and process innovation; enable customers, consumers and society at large to be more sustainable through the solutions that the company can provide by way of its products and technology, such as light weighting automobiles; and develop methods to close the lifecycle such that materials from the industry are reused over and over again.

Al-Mady cited the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) as “one of the best examples” of national vision and sustainability. He praised the university’s vision to focus on major sustainability issues by bringing the best minds in the world together to develop solutions to major sustainability problems in solar energy, water purification, plant science and Red Sea biodiversity. “We are proud of our alignment with KAUST and have built a research center there to collaborate with the scientific network and talent that they have assembled. We have also developed research agreements with other Saudi and foreign universities to accelerate our innovation,” he said.

A second key example of national vision, he said, is the emphasis which the Saudi government is placing on a national energy efficiency plan. The government is addressing energy usage in the transportation, home air conditioning and industry sectors as targets for energy efficiency improvement. SABIC is utilizing its sustainability program to address the challenges of this mandate, he said.

Notes to Editors

• SABIC is a registered trademark of SABIC Holding Europe B.V.
• High-resolution photos are available upon request
• SABIC should be written in every instance in all uppercase.

About SABIC

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.

SABIC recorded a net profit of SR 29.24 billion (US$ 7.80 billion) in 2011. Sales revenues for 2011 totaled SR 189.90 billion (US$ 50.64 billion). Total assets stood at SR 332.78 billion (US$ 88.74 billion) at the end of 2011.

SABIC’s businesses are grouped into Chemicals, Polymers, Performance Chemicals, Fertilizers, Metals and Innovative Plastics. SABIC has significant research resources with 16 dedicated Technology & Innovation facilities in Saudi Arabia, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, India and South Korea. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with around 40,000 employees worldwide.

SABIC manufactures on a global scale in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Headquartered in Riyadh, SABIC was founded in 1976 when the Saudi Arabian Government decided to use the hydrocarbon gases associated with its oil production as the principal feedstock for production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers. The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

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This release was published on openPR.