Saudi Aramco has signed an agreement with one of its key strategic partners Kellogg Brown & Root, aiming to develop a competitive and reliable local supply chain through its In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) programme.

Hosted by Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser, the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing was the latest major milestone for the ambitious IKTVA programme, which strives to expand business operations that help drive value creation and maximize long-term economic growth, diversification, job creation, and workforce development to support a rapidly changing business environment.

The programme will enable the company to achieve at least 70per cent of its procurement spending within the Kingdom’s supply chain by 2021.

With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, IKTVA is part of a broad-based effort to strengthen and diversify the Saudi economy, through the localization of key manufacturing and service industries within the Kingdom, and the creation of thousands of new jobs for talented young Saudi citizens.

Nasser and KBR’s president and CEO, Stuart Bradie, signed the MoU in the presence of Technical Services senior vice president Ahmad A Al Sa’adi, Procurement and Supply Chain Management acting executive director Mohammed Al Shammari, as well as KBR’s president of Engineering and Construction for the Middle East and North Africa, Jay Ibrahim.

By signing the MoU, KBR has committed itself to a five-year action plan to expand and develop KBR’s physical and human capital within the Kingdom to promote Saudi Aramco’s interests in creating and maintaining a reliable local supply, as well as fortifying the local economy through localizing goods and services.

The IKTVA action plan will help to ensure that KBR remains compliant with the IKTVA programme and will aid Saudi Aramco in meeting the 2021 objectives.

The action plan includes provisions for cooperation between the two companies, including the sharing of information to help Saudi Aramco monitor KBR’s compliance with the IKTVA action plan, as well as provisions for business development, in which both parties can seek opportunities to expand their current business relationship. – TradeArabia News Service