On May 27, 2024, Aramco Asia hosted the 2024 China Supplier Summit in Shanghai with the theme ”Sailing the Silk Road & Exploring New Opportunities in Saudi Arabia”. The purpose of this event is to expand supplier base for materials and services and promote the In Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) investment opportunities. The forum attracted 500 participants representing 240 companies from different industrial sectors, including manufacturers, service providers, hi-tech and government and semi-government agencies. Mr. Nader A Arfaj, Aramco Asia Managing Director (China), attended the Summit as a guest of honor.
In his keynote speech, Mohammed Al-Shammary, Aramco Senior Vice President of Procurement & Supply Chain Management, spoke highly of China’s remarkable accomplishments in recent years, elaborated on Aramco’s procurement from China as well as updated the audience with the developments of iktva program.
Commenting on the close ties between Aramco and Chinese vendors, he said, “Our strategic sourcing and procurement business with Chinese companies are growing, and the value of materials and services sourced by Saudi Aramco from Chinese companies is in billions of dollars during the last five years.”
With the iktva program took center stage during the event, Shammary noted, “Through iktva, we are establishing hubs to pioneer new technologies and services that cover multiple sectors such as non-metallic, IR4.0 industries, offshore, static and rotating equipment and others. We are also working jointly with our suppliers and customers to accelerate innovation and business sustainability, fostering strong and adaptable local supply base. We are looking for companies that share our vision of sustainable growth and want to build sustainable strategic partnerships that create jobs and opportunities for both Chinese and Saudis.”
To conclude his keynote speech, Shammary also extended invitation to the vendors for their attendance at the next iktva forum to be held in Saudi Arabia, to further explore the collaboration opportunities and feel the changes of Saudi Arabia enabled by iktva in person.
In order to help the audience better understand relevant policies and procedures, presentations were made to introduce iktva program, vendor qualification and performance management procedure and supplier qualification and registration procedure in addition to the briefing on the Aramco business opportunities emphasizing this year on chemical commodities.
Speakers from Saudi Ministry of Investment and Saudi Industrial Development Fund gave an overview of the investment environment and business landscape of Saudi Arabia, introducing incentives and favorable policies that are applicable to foreign investments. Aramco’s long-standing partners, including Sinopec, Warom and UBTECH shared their success stories in the Kingdom with the audience.
On the sidelines, Aramco management also had one-on-one meetings with representatives from Aramco’s major suppliers in China, including China Petroleum Engineering Construction Corporation (CPECC), Zhejiang Jiuli Hi-Tech Metals Co Ltd (Jiuli) and Zhongtian Technology Submarine Cable Co Ltd (ZTT), and visited SAP Center and Huawei Shanghai R&D Center.
The summit is an annual gathering of Aramco and its existing/to-be Chinese partners for direct engagement, for the purpose of strengthening bilateral relations and facilitate outbound investments from China to inject vitality into the Saudi economic development, against the backdrop of the Belt & Road Initiative and the Saudi Vision 2030.