Saudi Aramco to boost reliance on local goods, services

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, better known as Saudi Aramco, launched a major initiative to acquire as much of its needed goods and services from within the kingdom as possible last week.

Saudi Aramco envisions the initiative, dubbed the In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program, as a way to boost the kingdom’s local economy. The IKTVA program is designed to help diversify the nation’s economy, create jobs and increase internal investment.

To achieve that, the company has set three main goals: to procure at least 70 percent of its goods and services from Saudi suppliers, to facilitate the export of 30 percent of Saudi-manufactured energy related goods and to directly and indirectly create more jobs for Saudi nationals.

“IKTVA is a step change in our commitment to local content development that is now required across our domestic and international supply chain,” Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin Nasser said. “Sourcing a majority of materials, goods, and services that we require locally will enable Saudi Aramco to not only embed greater competitiveness and efficiency in our operations, but it will also help us fulfill our potential in support of the kingdom’s growth, job creation, and economic diversification objectives.”