US-based Air Products, a leading industrial gases company, received the licence for its previously announced industrial gases technology centre in the Dhahran Techno Valley Science Park in Saudi Arabia at the Saudi-US CEO Forum held in New York, US, last month.

Air Products chairman, president and CEO, Seifi Ghasemi, was among a select group of CEOs to participate in the Saudi-US CEO Forum.

The forum, held under the patronage of Saudi Crown Prince HRH Mohammed bin Salman, took place under the theme “An Era of Transformation: From Vision to Implementation”, and was an important part of the Crown Prince’s multi-week visit to the US, said a statement.

During the forum, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) Governor Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al-Omar granted the investment licence for the project. The centre will be a hub for Air Products to provide technology expertise as well as process safety, energy efficiency, reliability and operational excellence improvements in support of new industrial gas opportunities in the kingdom and throughout the Middle East.

Developed under an agreement with the Dhahran Techno Valley Company, Air Products’ new technology centre is expected to be fully operational in 2019, developing local talent and industrial gas projects.

Air Products› strategic investments in Saudi Arabia also extend to complex project execution, evidenced by the company’s partnership with ACWA Holding to develop the world’s largest industrial gas complex serving Saudi Aramco’s refinery in Jazan. The complex, expected on-stream in the company’s fiscal 2019, will supply 75,000 metric tonnes per day of oxygen and nitrogen, it stated.

Air Products’ core industrial gases business provides atmospheric and process gases and related equipment to manufacturing markets, including refining and petrochemical, metals, electronics, and food and beverage. It is also the world’s leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The full-day forum brought together CEOs of major Saudi and US companies with senior Saudi and US government officials for discussions about enhancing bilateral trade, enabling closer business relationships, and furthering investment opportunities catalysed by Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.