Saudi Aramco eyes new businesses, signs partnerships with six firms

Saudi Aramco eyes new businesses, signs partnerships with six firms

Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco shared plans on Monday to launch new businesses that will create jobs in the kingdom, as it secured new partnership deals with six companies in Europe and AsiaThe firm said it had just signed memorandum of understandings (MOU) with Shell & AMG Recycling B.V. from the Netherlands; Chinese companies Suzhou XDM, Shen Gong, Xinfoo and SUPCON; and Posco from South Korea, to boost its industrial and digital capabilities at home, and expand its flagship “localisation programme”.The agreements include studying the feasibility of building an integrated steel plate manufacturing plant in the kingdom, exploring joint investment opportunities for the services and manufacturing value chain, as well as in chip manufacturing and related technologies.The oil company has been among major Gulf firms hit hard by a slump in demand and weak oil prices due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company saw its profits for the third quarter of the year drop by 44.6 percent, and still has to pay its shareholders more than $18 billion dividend for the quarter.New businessesIn a statement on Monday, the firm said the latest collaborations will “pave the way for the launch of new businesses across multiple innovative growth sectors, including