THE SAUDI ARABIAN BASIC INDUSTRIES CORPORATION (SABIC) AND THE SAUDI MINING COMPANY (MA'DEN) SIGNED HERE TODAY THE AGREEMENT OF THE BASIC CONDITIONS FOR THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES AT THE PHOSPHATE PROJECT. THE AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED BY DR ABDULLAH BIN EISA AL-DABBAGH ON BEHALF OF MA'DEN AND BY ENG. MOHAMMED AL-MADI ON BEHALF OF SABIC. AFTER SIGNING THE AGREEMENT, MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND MINERAL RESOURCES ENG. ALI AL-NAIMI SAID THE AGREEMENT COMES IN LINE WITH A NEW STRATEGY FOR BUILDING AN INTEGRATED INDUSTRY. ON HIS PART, PRINCE SAUD BIN ABDULLAH AL-THENIAN AL-SAUD, THE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION FOR JUBAIL AND YANBU, UNDERSCORED THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSIFICATION OF SOURCES OF INCOME FOR BOOSTING THE NATIONAL ECONOMY. HE NOTED THAT SABIC HAS SUCCESSFULLY STOOD ON ITS OWN FEET AT THE COMPETITIVE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS AND HAS GAINED A GOOD REPUTATION AT THE FERTILIZERS MARKET. MEANWHILE, DR AL-DABBAGH SAID THIS NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WILL CONSTITUTE A STRONG BASE FOR THE SAUDI FERTILIZERS INDUSTRY. DR AL-DABBAGH SAID THAT 70 PERCENT OF THE SHARES OF THE PROJECT, WHICH HAS A CAPITAL OF SR 13 BILLION, WILL BE FOR MA'DEN AND 30 PERCENT OF THE SHARES WILL BE FOR SABIC. HE NOTED THAT THE RESERVES OF PHOSPHATES WHICH ARE LIABLE FOR MINING IN THE NORTHERN BORDERS OF THE KINGDOM ARE ESTIMATED AT MORE THAN 1.6 BILLION TON, BESIDES ADDITIONAL RESERVES AMOUNTING TO MORE THAN 1.5 BILLION TON. DR AL-DABBAGH POINTED OUT THAT THE NEW PROJECT WILL MAKE ABOUT 1400 JOB OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR THE SAUDI YOUTH. ON HIS PART, ENG. AL-MADI SAID SABIC HAS BECOME ONE OF THE BIGGEST INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES IN THE FIELD OF FERTILIZERS PRODUCTION WITH ITS MORE THAN EIGHT MILLION TON PER YEAR.
