Kuwait’s loss seven years ago is Saudi Arabia’s gain, officials in Riyadh may have been thinking when they awarded a trading license to Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) last week. Dow is the first foreign company to receive the honour, which allows it to own 100% of any company it chooses to establish, rather than requiring it to have a joint venture with a local partner. Dow is also Saudi Arabia’s biggest foreign investor, with currently 500 employees in the Kingdom. The licence award reflects the government’s plans to put the economy on a broader international basis, in particular in the downstream chemicals sector, as it seeks to diversify the economy away from oil.

Dow has a long history of activity in Saudi Arabia, having participated in numerous joint ventures. It is now in the process of completing the mammoth Sadara petrochemicals and plastics complex at Al Jubail, a joint venture with Saudi Aramco (Dhahran / Saudi Arabia; www.saudiaramco.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 11.12.2015. In addition to the first solution PE facility in the Middle East, designed to help meeting rising demand for food-grade plastics, industrial and consumer packaging as well as health and hygiene films, the site expected to be complete by 2017 will be home to a 1.5m t/y multi-feed cracker – the first of its kind in the Middle East – along with production facilities for polyurethane feedstocks.

The US group also is a partner in joint ventures with E.A. Juffali & Brothers (Jeddah / Saudi Arabia; www.eajb.com) and Saudi Acrylic Monomer Company (SAMCo), part of Sahara Chemicals (www.saharapcc.com), a former Rohm & Haas participation. Additionally, it is building a new research centre with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), to be called Dow Middle East Research and Development Center, and a reverse osmosis facility – the first unit of its kind outside the US.

In receiving the licence from Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in the US capital, CEO Andrew Liveris said, “Dow is truly honoured to be the first company to receive a trading license and advance our legacy of strategic partnerships and investments in the Kingdom. Dow has been a strategic partner in Saudi Arabia for nearly 40 years, and we look forward to playing a key role in helping advance the Saudi’s Vision 2030 plan designed to create a vibrant society and a thriving diversified economy.

Liveris added that the licence is expected to create additional employment opportunities for the highly educated Saudi workforce with a particular focus on improving women’s participation and remarked also that it “advances Dow’s ability to deliver high-value, innovative products that will benefit Saudi Arabia in the areas of sustainable development, energy-efficiency, oil and gas, alternative energy and water.”