SABIC CEO at GPCA Leaders’ Forum: “The GCC chemical industry must transform to achieve decarbonization and circularity goals”
The GCC chemical industry must refocus business and operating models to achieve decarbonization and circularity goals and overcome fundamental structural challenges.
This was the message delivered by Yousef A. Al-Benyan, Vice President and CEO of SABIC, and President of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), as he addressed the 2nd edition of the GPCA Leaders’ Forum. to Dubai.
Organized under the theme “Innovating in 2022: Regional Industry in Transformation”, the Forum brought together regional and global chemical industry leaders to engage, discuss the latest industry trends and forge future business partnerships. .
During his address, Mr. Al-Benyan acknowledged the broad implications, urgency and impact on shareholder value of reducing greenhouse gas emissions using the circular carbon economy platform.
He said: “For chemical companies in the GCC, achieving the decarbonization target is even more critical than for other manufacturing sectors of the economy, as the chemical industry itself is a decarbonization tool for oil companies. national. We need to think about this challenge much more strategically. with laser-precise focus.”
Mr. Al-Benyan identified three priority transformation areas for the chemical industry: partnerships and collaborations; agility; and new business and operating models.
“The key question is how GCC companies can meet these priorities. The answer is by focusing on talent and technology. We need to take a holistic approach to attracting and retaining top talent and, at the same time, we need to create a sustainable source of competitive talent at home.”
He added, “When it comes to technology, we have to admit that chemical companies in the GCC are largely technology users. In the future, technology will create a greater divide between technology developers and technology users as the resource advantage erodes.
The event follows the first GPCA Leaders Forum held last year, where regional leaders shared their lessons on the pandemic, delivered a unified message of resilience and emerged ready to meet the challenges. future.
SABIC unveiled its roadmap to carbon neutrality in 2021, setting out a strategy to decarbonize its operations by 2050, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The roadmap identifies five paths to decarbonization: reliability, energy efficiency and improvements; Renewable energy; Electrification; Carbon capture; and green/blue hydrogen.
