Saudi Basic Industries Corporation Vice Chairman and CEO Mohamed Al-Mady (seventh from left), with other speakers, at the annual Boao Forum for Asia Conference that ends Monday in Hainan, China. Mohamed Al-Mady, Vice Chairman and CEO of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), underscored the company's firm commitment toward fostering environmental sustainability where its interest in shale gas is related to utilization in manufacturing of petrochemicals, not exploration and exploitation. During the three-day annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Conference that ended yesterday (Monday) in Hainan, China, Al-Mady said: “We believe the answer lies in bringing sustainability and innovation together. To us, sustainability requires innovation and innovation finds its value in sustainability. There is no sustainability without addressing the fundamental business challenges that we will face in the years to come. Novel concepts towards “additive manufacturing” tightly connect innovation, manufacturing, supply chain, and commercialization that have been pioneered by the chemicals industry will result in more efficiency and less waste. This creates a virtuous cycle that will benefit countries, people and the environment for future generations.” Moreover, with the goal of building and sustaining development and growth in mind, Al-Mady said: “The economic trends in Asia are not dissimilar to found in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. The success we both enjoy are a result of exports on a global scale, translating into rapidly growing economies with a strong and expanding middle-class. Higher wages and consumption are the natural outcome, which also bring about challenges for us to produce more, waste less, and insure a sustainable future for our environment and society.” SABIC has become an integral part of the social and economic fabric of each country in which it operates and has shared ambition with local communities to enhance quality of living through delivery of material sustainability. Central to its sustainability strategies, the corporation has clear and measurable objectives focused on reducing its carbon footprint and energy consumption through its management culture and practices globally; helping customers design products to enable positive contribution to world sustainability; and investing in new manufacturing processes that do more with less raw material, water, energy and produce lesser waste and emission. “Our future growth and development is dependent on creating solutions for the major issues facing society today and tomorrow – successful solutions that create value for society and in turn, growth for our business,” Al-Mady noted. One such solution is the emergence of shale gas as a viable natural gas source. Speaking at the keynote roundtable on Shale Gas: the Changing Landscape of Energy Security on April 6, Al-Mady touched on the potential for its development in Asia, and how it will create global shifts in economic power. “Asia is SABIC's largest market and we remain upbeat about the region's economic growth in the years ahead – charted by positive forces spurring sustainable development and growth. China will continue to play a major role in enabling Asian economies growth and steering the global economy stability. Clearly reflected in the country's 12th Five-Year Plan, it states an increasing focus on reducing environmental impact, increasing its value addition through efficiency and technology while maximizing growth of its domestic consumption. The rise of the Next-11 Asian economies will also lead to an expanded presence in terms of opportunities and growth, for example, in Indonesia given its major oil and gas resources and the sheer size of its market.” A supporter of BFA for the 4th consecutive year since 2009, SABIC is a Platinum Sponsor and Mohamed Al-Mady is a Member of the Board of BFA. The founding of the Boao Forum, which promotes regional economic integration and brings Asian countries even closer to their development goals, was driven by the People's Republic of China and officially launched by 26 national states in 2001, with its first meeting held in 2002. — SG
