Welcoming remarks by Amin H. Nasser at iktva 2025

Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: welcome to iktva 2025. We have come a long way since launching iktva in 2015.

Back then, we identified a weak link in our supply chain. At the time, the majority of our materials and services were coming from outside Saudi Arabia. 

As a result, we wanted to raise our procurement spend on local content from a very modest 35% to a more robust 70%. We believed that this doubling would generate additional benefits, more manufacturing, more R and D, more jobs within the Kingdom. 

And eventually more exports from the Kingdom. As we reach the tenth year of iktva I am pleased to say we have made great progress. At last count, we have achieved 67% local content across our procurement. 

For this, I thank everyone in this room. And please join me in a round of applause in appreciation of the remarkable effort of all our stakeholders – our supply chain partners, all the government and private sector entities, academia and others, most notably the talented people who got us here!

Indeed, I am also very proud of this achievement, which means a lot to me personally. That said, for iktva to continue to be successful and sustainable, it must be beneficial for all involved. 

So far, I believe iktva is proving to be just that. For Aramco, iktva is bringing continuity. Having such a largely localized supply chain is providing us with the ability to overcome operational adversity.  

This was demonstrated with our quick recovery after the attacks on our facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais – and again during the pandemic. iktva is also broadening the Kingdom’s capability. 

Back in 2015, there was limited end-to-end local manufacturing. Now there is the Maritime Complex to build tankers and boats and rigs and platforms. 

There is SPARK – a hub for all manufacturing. Going live today we also have ASMO, our joint venture with DHL, the region’s first procurement and logistics hub providing comprehensive end-to-end supply chain service. 

Plus we are inaugurating our non-metallics JV Novel – and the NMDC Offshore Fabrication Yard in Ras Alkhair. There is also casting and forging and rig manufacturing in the Kingdom – with steel manufacturing to be rolling soon.

All anchor projects that will enable the further localization growth in multiple industries. In fact, since 2015, we have seen the establishment of 350 local manufacturing facilities, worth more than $9 billion. 

And during the same period, iktva’s total contribution to the Kingdom’s GDP has been about $240 billion.

At the same time, iktva’s steady progress has also been accelerated by the rapid progress in the Kingdom’s implementation of Vision 2030 – which has been a true game-changer for the business environment.

Indeed, the benefits of Vision 2030 are clearly visible and tangible in all areas. This includes the addition of significant new infrastructure. Also, the overall diversification of the Saudi economy continues. And we have seen a major transformation of the job market in the last few years with Vision 2030.

All of which brings me to the opportunity iktva is creating for individuals. Aramco has collaborated with government and business partners to establish 16 National Training Centers in ten different cities in the Kingdom.

More than 32,000 Saudis have been sponsored by major companies and have graduated with diplomas in core disciplines. These programs are employment-driven, ensuring that students join their sponsoring companies and suppliers upon graduation.

In fact, in total these Centers have trained more than 70,000 people in over 100 different trades and skills – including short programs and courses to meet workforce readiness and market demands. This is an indication of the high level of demand for skilled labor from industries as a result of the transforming business environment under Vision 2030.

As for our customers around the world, iktva is also enhancing Aramco’s reliability. At Aramco, we are very proud of our reputation as one of the most dependable energy suppliers in the world – year in and year out.

The reality is that such a steady performance would not be possible without the hard work of the men and women at Aramco. The other reality: our high levels of reliability would not be possible without the commitment of our suppliers in this room and beyond. 

Let me pause and add a special thanks to all those here and elsewhere who have pioneered and championed iktva since its launch in 2015. Now finally, for our supply chain partners – we hope that iktva is also translating into profitability for you.

We designed iktva by looking at the supply chain from both sides of the business lens. We want our suppliers to succeed and to make reasonable rates of return on your investments in the Kingdom. We believe the key to transforming a contractual relationship into a genuine collaboration is all about creating multiple and mutual benefits.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is what iktva has become – an ecosystem of opportunities. And as we get close to achieving our 70% target, the obvious question is: what is next?

For us, a decade of delivery is not enough. Aramco thinks long term so we must strive for decades of success. Our localization efforts will not end here, it will continue to be part of everything we do.

Going forward, Aramco is continuing to work to reinforce our current upstream preeminence and further integrate our downstream portfolio as well as develop our new energies business.

And there are areas like technology and AI, where existing projects like Aramco Digital are enhancing our capabilities. So, when Aramco expands into a new sector, or acquires a new business, our iktva goals will follow.

But we cannot do it alone. So when you look ahead to the next decade and beyond, there is much for you to be excited about. All of our initiatives will have a knock-on effect – or should I say a flow-on effect for all of you as our supply chain partners.

Of course, the Kingdom also has many big projects on the horizon. Saudi Arabia will host EXPO 2030. And then four years later, we will put on the greatest show on Earth, the FIFA World Cup.

So there is much to look forward to for us all. On that note, I thank you for your continued support of Aramco and iktva – and I wish you all a highly productive conference.

Thank you.

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