Far East Journey Helps Build Relationships

DHAHRAN, November 04, 2009-- East Asia is playing an increasingly important part in Saudi Aramco’s operations, not just in its core hydrocarbon businesses but also in human-resource development, cultural outreach and corporate social responsibility.

Last month’s visit to the region by Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, senior vice president of Industrial Relations, and Khaled A. Al-Buraik, vice president of Saudi Aramco Affairs, underscored the growing network of institutional relationships Saudi Aramco is building there.

Touching down in China’s Fujian Province, Al-Khayyal and Al-Buraik not only toured the facilities of the Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Co. — a downstream joint venture with Sinopec and ExxonMobil — but also met with representatives of Xiamen University to discuss opportunities for Saudi Aramco-sponsored students.

Since the company delegation included two young professionals who graduated from the university, Mohammed A. Kadi of Saudi Petroleum Ltd.-Beijing and Saleh Al-Khabti from Crude Oil Sales & Marketing in Dhahran, there was an opportunity to reconnect with former professors and mentors.

Al-Khayyal also presented a donation from Saudi Aramco to the Quangang District Mongolian Primary School, which is attended by orphans from across Fujian Province as well as ethnic minority students from Inner Mongolia

“Saudi Aramco is committed to demonstrating good corporate citizenship wherever we operate,” he told faculty, staff and students during the festive presentation ceremony, “and we are honored to help these young people get a better start in life through education.”

The group also had a chance to visit Masjid Ashab, an ancient mosque in Quanzhou first built a thousand years ago in the Umayyad style; local Muslims still attend congregational prayers on the grounds, where a new prayer hall is now under construction.

Arriving in Shanghai, the group first inspected construction at the site of the Saudi Arabia pavilion at EXPO 2010, and then met with faculty and administrators at Tongji University.

Al-Khayyal next held discussions with Sha Hailin, the chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, the government authority in charge of economic activity, trading and foreign investments in the city of nearly 20 million people.

Afterward, it was time for an interview with 21st Century Business Herald, the country’s leading business daily, which focused on Saudi Aramco’s recent moves into the petrochemicals sector and its strategic energy relationships in the Chinese market.

The highlight of the stop, though, came with a dinner reception hosted by Aramco Overseas Co.-Shanghai, which provided key Chinese vendors and service providers with an opportunity to hear Al-Khayyal’s thoughts on the company’s thriving interactions with that fast-growing market.

Stressing the mutual benefits of the relationship, Al-Khayyal told the guests that “even as China looks to Saudi Aramco for the reliable supply of energy needed to sustain this country’s remarkable growth and development, Saudi Aramco looks to China for a wide range of critical inputs to our business.”

The ancient capital city of Xi’an was the next leg of the tour, and a chance to explore opportunities for collaboration between noted Chinese museums and the King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge and Culture, which Saudi Aramco is currently developing in Dhahran.

Al-Khayyal and Al-Buraik met with curators at the complex housing the famous “terracotta army,” which dates back to the third century BCE, as well as the Xi’an Ox Culture Ceramics Museum, home to a range of priceless pottery and rare porcelain figurines.

The Saudi Aramco delegation was able to view the terracotta soldiers up close, observe the ongoing archaeological work taking place in the pits, and meet Yang Zhifa, one of the local farmers who first discovered the site in 1974 while digging a water well.

Cultural collaboration also featured in the visit to the present Chinese capital, Beijing, and in particular to the National Library and the National Center for the Performing Arts, an iconic new cultural facility near Tian’anmen Square and the Great Hall of the People.

In addition, Al-Buraik was interviewed by China Central Television’s newly launched Arabic-language service.

Al-Buraik also addressed a standing-room-only audience at the China University of Petroleum-Beijing.

Sharing his insights on the “skills and abilities it takes to be an outstanding engineer in today’s complex and fast-changing oil industry environment,” Al-Buraik argued that “your generation of engineers will need to not only master the technical skills of your chosen discipline, but become well-rounded professionals who understand the bigger picture, develop your communication and interpersonal skills, attain the attributes of leadership, and continue to learn and develop as you progress in your careers.

The final stop on this fast-paced swing through Asia was Seoul, where in addition to discussions with administrators and curators at the National Library, National Museum, and National Museum of Contemporary Art, Al-Buraik presented a company contribution to the non-governmental Community Chest of Korea, which will help to supply disadvantaged families with heating oil during the frigid Korean winter.