JEDDAH — The Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen (GESALO) organized a delegation trip of Saudi businessmen to ACHEMA trade fair which was opened last Monday for the 31st time. ACHEMA is the world forum for chemical engineering and the process industry and an innovations' platform and technology summit. It takes place every third year and was first organized in 1920. It covers all steps of the value added chain of the process industry. The trade fair has been the leading show in the petrochemicals sector and process industries for decades. It is organized by Dechema GmbH. The delegation was organized by Andreas Hergenröther, Delegate of German Industry and Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen and Al-Ameen Al-Dalali, Head of Trade Fair Department of GESALO. GESALO is the official representative of ACHEMA trade fair in Saudi Arabia and had organized a presentation event with Dechema CEO Dr. Thomas Scheuring in September 2014 to promote the show. GESALO organized in collaboration with Dechema the Saudi Arabia Downstream Forum. The event took place on the first day of ACHEMA show last June 15. After Dechema CEO Dr. Thomas Scheuring officially welcomed the delegation in the Congress Center of Messe Frankfurt, the delegation participated in the opening of the show and enjoyed a guided tour over the show venue before it participated in a networking lunch. Subsequently, the Saudi Arabia Downstream Forum was opened by Dr. Thomas Scheuring and Andreas Hergenröther. The event, moderated by the Delegate Hergenröther continued with the speeches of a number of high-ranking businessmen: Jürgen Nowicki, Speaker of the Board of Linde AG - Engineering Division; Eng. Osama Al-Zamil, Chairman of Zamil ChemPlast; Saud Al-Sabhan, Marketing Manager Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon); Werner Strauch, General Manager of Coperion Middle East Co. Ltd., Daniel Gottschald, CEO of ChemieCluster Bayern AG and Thomas Dreiling, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions – KSA. The speakers shed light on the development of the Saudi petrochemicals market and highlighted its potentials. Hergenröther said: “Saudi Arabia is the region's largest petrochemical producer with an annual 86.4 million tons of capacity. The Saudi Arabian petrochemical industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Saudi economy. The country alone produces 9% of the world's output of petrochemical products, shipping 17% of world exports in petrochemicals. Around 60 petrochemicals projects are currently being realized or planned.” He added: “German companies have been strong partners for sustainable long-term business relations in the petrochemical sector in Saudi Arabia for decades. Companies, from global enterprises like Linde and Evonik to SMES like Coperion have ventured into the Saudi market and established themselves as strong partners for Saudi Arabian petrochemical businesses.” A fruitful discussion concluded the Saudi Arabia Downstream Forum. As for the trade fair, four Saudi companies participated in ACHEMA as exhibitors: Al Abdulkarim Holding Company (a supplier for oilfield components, industrial automation and electrical and electromechanical devices), the government body Modon which supervises the development of a number of industrial cities, petrochemical and steel giant SABIC and state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco. One of the VIPs participating in the delegation was Fahd Bin Mohamed Al Hammadi, Head of the Arab Contractors Union and President of Al-Jazea Group. — SG
