Wa"ed, the entrepreneurship arm of Aramco, has approved to grant a SR5 million loan to the Jubail-based Amad Chemicals Company, one of the leading Saudi-based manufacturers of environmentally low-impact chemicals and coatings for the maritime industry. The loan will help finance Amad’s new facility for the production of chemicals and coatings that comply with Saudi-supported environmental standards set by the International Marine Organization (IMO), a UN agency that oversees global shipping. The new IMO-compliant facility will be located near Ras Al Khair in Jubail, where the King Salman Maritime Complex — one of the world’s largest planned shipyards, is now under construction. The facility’s business line will promote the reduction of industrial waste and pollution, particularly in the maritime and offshore sectors. Hazza Al-Qahtani, chairman at Amad Chemicals Company, said the loan contributes to closing an important gap in the Saudi economy for ‘homegrown’ environmentally-compliant chemicals. “We are delighted that Wa’ed is empowering the growth of our company and with it, industry expansion in Saudi Arabia. We pride ourselves for being among the first Saudi-based companies to address this untapped market and thank Wa’ed immensely for their substantial backing.” Local demand for industrial cleaners is currently being met through direct imports, which, according to the United Nations Comtrade database, were estimated to make up around SR4.5 billion of the Saudi industrial cleaners market in 2019. Financing Amad’s new facility marks another initiative by Wa’ed to boost the localization of key industrial sectors while supporting the growth of sustainability-focused companies in the Kingdom. The loan will also help generate local jobs for Saudi professionals, a key priority within Wa’ed’s strategy to simulate the local ecosystem and a leading strategy in the Vision 2030 economic blueprint. “Supporting Amad Chemicals will not only create prospective jobs for Saudis in a crucial industrial sector, but it will also advance the Kingdom’s adoption of international environmental standards, an opportunity to elevate local awareness around sustainable businesses,” said Fahad Alidi, managing director at Wa’ed. Amad Chemicals plans to expand its operations within the Kingdom with a future unit to be established in Jeddah within the next few years. In the shorter term, the company is looking to tap into new markets, offering a wide range of industrial sanitization services for clients in various sectors within the next year. Commitments to international sustainability standardization are becoming essential after the Saudi government issued a requirement for all government entities to review and approve industrial contractors’ environmental management plans. The reviewing process is meant to ensure contractors such as Amad are adhering effectively to international standardization measures, like the ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and the ISO 14000 Environmental Impact Management measures. — SG