SABIC at BFA: Openness and innovation are not optional

Leveraging innovative solutions and smart & targeted investments to address increasing global challenges

Boao, China, April 10, 2018 – SABIC, a global leader in diversified chemicals, has returned to Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Meeting as a strategic partner for its 10th consecutive year of sponsorship, underscoring its continuous support to the prestigious annual event as part of its long-term commitment to Asia.

Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef Al-Benyan led a delegation of SABIC senior executives and regional talents to attend this year’s annual conference, and actively participated in dialogues alongside heads of state, government officials, and global industrial and business leaders across the world. As the only speaker from business circles among eight other Asian and global state heads, Mr. Al- Benyan also gave a speech at the enening plenary after President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech on April 10.

“An open and innovative world is not optional,” remarked Mr. Al-Benyan during his keynote speech. “Such innovations require targeted investments, which should be carried out through collaborative efforts across the region and the world.”

He also added, “Asia, especially China, has been the world’s great economic success story and much of the world’s prosperity is being generated here in China. The fruits of China’s reform program began four decades ago. Now Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’ economic development program is complementing China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, and SABIC aims to be a key enabler of these critically important programs.”

Mr. Al-Benyan will join specially invited CEOs from multinational Chinese and overseas companies at a roundtable with Xi Jinping on April 11.

SABIC’s long-term strategic partnership and intensive engagement with BFA represents the company’s commitment in driving inclusive growth within Asia and China. And now, as the Saudi 2030 vision is actively complementing China’s Belt & Road Initiative, SABIC’s participation in the event, has provided a unique perspective and enabled fruitful discussion around this year’s theme - An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity.

First entering Asia in the 1980s, SABIC is committed to being an inclusive partner of China and the countries of Asia, supporting their sustainable growth and gradually extending its footprint in China. Today, SABIC has a state-of-art SABIC Technology Center in Shanghai, three plants in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing respectively, a joint venture with Sinopec running a worldclass petrochemical complex in Tianjin, and operates in 14 cities across Greater China. SABIC is geared towards continually contributing wherever it operates, through investment, business & community partnerships and job creation.