Aramco\u00a0today announced the expansion of its flagship program to increase local content and boost domestic supply chains. It is a significant milestone in the company\u2019s In-Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) program, which marks its fifth anniversary on\u00a0December 1st. The expansion includes plans for new international partnerships and the establishing of companies through an Industrial Investment Program (IIP), which is linked to the development of Aramco\u2019s business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aramco has signed MoUs with Shell & AMG Recycling BV (AMG) from\u00a0the Netherlands; Chinese firms Suzhou XDM,\u00a0Shen Gong, Xinfoo and SUPCON; and Posco from\u00a0South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These strategic collaborations pave the way for the launch of new businesses across multiple innovative growth sectors, including steel plate manufacturing, industrial 3D printing, digital equipment manufacturing, energy management and control; catalyst manufacturing and recycling, and advanced chip and smart sensor manufacturing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These new collaborations reflect Aramco\u2019s commitment to increasing the company\u2019s reliability and operational efficiency, as well as its commitment to further enhancing the Kingdom\u2019s commercial ecosystem and increasing employment and development opportunities for talented Saudis. Since iktva\u2019s launch, Aramco\u2019s local content index has increased from 35% at the end of 2015 to 56%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amin H. Nasser, Aramco\u2019s President & Chief Executive Officer, said:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cToday\u2019s announcement is a step change in Aramco\u2019s pioneering IKTVA program which was launched in 2015.\u00a0 Despite the uncertainties surrounding the global economy, we have sustained our focus on our long-term goals to enable growth and development for a thriving ecosystem and a more diversified Saudi economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese new partnerships will contribute to advancing innovation, sustainability and enhance the scale of reliability in our business ecosystem and, in addition, benefit companies operating in the Kingdom\u2019s vast energy and chemicals sector. These partnerships will also have a strong focus on new technologies, by maximizing our investments in non-metallic materials and the circular carbon economy, as well as the development of talented Saudis in communities where we operate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahmad Al-Saadi, Aramco\u2019s Senior Vice President of Technical Services, said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cAramco has a long history of supporting the local business ecosystem. Our iktva program is a manifestation of our commitment to this and the resulting investments, either directly by Aramco or indirectly by suppliers, have promoted localization, contributed to Aramco\u2019s supply chain resilience and enhanced\u00a0Saudi Arabia\u2019s\u00a0economic growth. Our planned partnerships will continue this journey and advance the Kingdom\u2019s economic progress. We intend to act as an enabler, supporting the growth of national champions. Today we are expanding our flagship program, and expect more partnerships in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saudi Aramco has concluded MoUs with the following companies:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n