A senior UK delegation, headed by Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, Minister of State for Trade & Investment, visited Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) headquarters in Riyadh.

The visitors were received by Sabic vice chairman and CEO Mohamed Al-Mady and other high ranking company officials, the company said in a statement.

Green, who previously held the position as global group chairman of HSBC Holdings, was accompanied by managing director of UK Trade and Investment, Edward Oakden, and director of UK Trade and Investment, British Embassy in Riyadh, Chris Innes-Hopkins, the statement said.

Al-Mady and Green discussed the prospects for exploring new opportunities between Sabic and the UK companies, largely in light of the fact that Sabic has considerably boosted its presence in the country after its acquisition of Huntsman Petrochemicals in 2006.

Al-Mady said that the visit comes at a time when Sabic is optimising its international operations, pursuing new ventures for investments, and focusing on technology and innovation efforts.

He added that the creation of Sabic UK Petrochemicals was part of this global strategy, with the company now boasting a new state-of-the-art 400,000 metric tons/year LDPE plastics production plant in Wilton, Teesside – the largest of its kind in the world. Operations also comprise a cracker unit and aromatics compounding complex.

“We work diligently to improve the business environment through simplifying the planning and development of new infrastructure processes and by maintaining a stable and clear organisation. We believe that opportunities will be available in UK,” Al-Mady concluded. – TradeArabia News Service