Driving Localized Development

Acting as a catalyst for the Kingdom’s priority projects, Nusaned is SABIC’s first integrated Localization Engine.  Formed with a vision for the future, Nusaned is driving advancement of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector, through sponsorship of competitive industrial ventures and support of strategic partnerships.  

INVESTOR DEVELOPMENT

Aimed at channelling the entrepreneurial energy which runs through the Kingdom, Nusaned is working to turn Saudi Arabia into a globally competitive hub by effectively addressing gaps in the industrial sector as new industries develop. Through this initiative, SABIC brings the public and private sectors together to help small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) get started and enable more established enterprises to continue growing. 

In 2020, we registered the highest levels of interest since the program’s inception from investors and brought entrepreneurs and SMEs closer together – equipping them to think big, develop faster and succeed quicker. In 2020, Nusaned received 702 investor registration requests, driving an upward trend in localization across a number of priority industrial sectors to give entrepreneurs practical shape to their business ideas.  

Nusaned continues to enable downstream investment and contribute to the development of strategic industries locally including metals, renewables and medical supplies among others. Nusaned has worked with four of SABIC’s major strategic alliance partners – Grace, BASF, Clariant & Sabayek – to identify localization opportunities for chemical and catalyst commodities.

In driving an increase of local content in services in 2020, Nusaned ™ targeted 21 contracts and awarded 20 procurement contracts with a Local Content Requirements Embedment worth SAR 2.23 billion, with a Local Content impact of SAR 1.16 Billion - creating more than 900 potential jobs for Saudi citizens. 

By supporting local business and procurement initiatives, SABIC empowers SMEs and is working to reduce unemployment by building local capabilities and boosting the Kingdom’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Nusaned is on track to increase the contribution of the private sector to GDP by approximately US $4.2 billion. It aims to generate over 9,500 jobs for Saudi citizens, while increasing the value of exports to non-oil GDP by 2.4 million tons. 

Through development of the whole business chain, from investors to suppliers and human capital, Nusaned is propelling a realization of accelerating socio-economic growth in the Kingdom - enabling key progress of the Saudi Vision 2030. 

ADVANCING NATIONAL HEALTH SECURITY 

Nusaned has been at the forefront in the Kingdom’s efforts to combat COVID-19, working actively to position the Kingdom as a regional export hub for pharmaceutical products and boost national health security. 

SABIC has leveraged its global technical centres and local intermediate manufacturers to support to local PPE companies throughout the pandemic. In support of the ventilator Initiative, SABIC facilitated introductory meetings between technology owners and local manufacturers to help foster partnerships for localizing the latest patented portable ventilators throughout the Kingdom. 

From identifying raw materials to developing new solutions for the local market, procurement backing for critical components was also provided to local initiatives for non-chemical related areas, together with engineering capabilities across the health sector.

CULTIVATING HUMAN CAPITAL 

A core Nusaned pillar, Muahal, activates the power of human capital and focuses on creating new jobs, while localizing current ones and enhancing existing local employers’ capabilities. In 2020, more than 3,500 jobs were created through Muahal, with approximately 1,532 localized job opportunities created by the Local Workforce Solutions (LWFS) department. Since its launch in 2018, this initiative has created a total of over 6,000 local jobs and continued strong growth in developing Saudi’s workforce capabilities.  

Through the Employment-Start development program, 597 local jobs were created in 2020. Out of these newly created jobs, 16 per cent of the total were aimed specifically at hiring Saudi women. Alongside these efforts, Nusaned is at the forefront of encouraging greater entrepreneurship among Saudi youth. Through programs like Nasna’a and NUSAHEM, as well as the US SABIC Entrepreneurship Award, Nusaned qualified a total of 103 entrepreneurs in 2020. 

In cultivating human capital, Nusaned is harnessing the Kingdom’s innovative capabilities as it continues on its ambitious transformation journey.