40 international suppliers of Aramco move their headquarters to Saudi Arabia

About 40 international suppliers to Saudi Aramco have obtained certificates from the Kingdom's Ministry of Investment for setting up headquarters in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the seventh edition of the Total Value Added Forum in the Kingdom in Dhahran, Salem Al-Horaish, Vice President of Procurement at Saudi Aramco, said that more than 60 other companies have placed the papers to start the regional incorporation process in the Kingdom.

"We work hand in hand with the Ministry of Investment, and now, we offer incentives to companies when they move their regional headquarters to the Kingdom," he continued.

He added, “I am pleased to point out that 40 of our major suppliers, who are international suppliers, have already obtained certificates from MISA which is the first step for their localization or relocation from their regional headquarters in the Kingdom.

More than 60 other suppliers have applied for the license.”

Headquarters migration

According to Al-Horaish, these localization efforts and the migration of regional headquarters will certainly contribute to the economy of Saudi Arabia.

During the discussion, Al-Huraish noted that Saudi Aramco has always focused on ensuring a sustainable supply chain within the Kingdom, and explained that this is in line with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

Cyber security

Al-Huraish noted that Saudi Aramco places great emphasis on cybersecurity, adding that it offers incentives to all companies that meet these requirements as part of the sufficiency program.

He continued, "We are on a continuous journey of improvement by monitoring the market. When we see room for improvement, we will be satisfied with it and make it part of our program."

The importance of digitization

For his part, Ayman Al-Falaj, CEO of Thiqa Company, said that digitization is necessary to ensure the continuity of the supply chain and localization. Without digitization, there are many challenges.

“We believe that digitization has played a critical role in the smooth transition and transition after the pandemic and in bringing more local content to Saudi Arabia,” Al-Falaj said.

ACWA Power CEO Paddy Padmanathan said the company has been very transparent in its investment plan which in turn will help ensure a resilient and sustainable domestic supply chain.

“We are transparent in our investment plans, showing the path in which ACWA Power will invest, what ACWA Power will invest in. Thus, in what areas (companies) can reliably look to invest in the Kingdom for supply in the project we are buying,” Padmanathan said.