Saudi’s IKTVA localization forum aims to serve global energy sector: Al-Falih

The In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program aims to serve the energy sector in and outside Saudi Arabia, Khalid Al-Falih, minister of energy, industry and mineral resources, told Al Arabiya channel.

“IKTVA program doesn’t just aim to build a supply chain, and serve Saudi Aramco’s oil and gas industries but also aims to serve the world, in addition to being a technically advanced platform for all energy industries in the Middle East,” he said.

IKTVA leads the local content movement in Saudi Arabia, as one of the key objectives of Vision 2030, to boost private sector procurement. And there is a strong integration between both service providers and service demanding firms, both locally and internationally, he said.

The military industries sector has launched a program similar to IKTVA, aiming to increase local procurement to reach 50 percent by 2030. For that purpose the Saudi Military Industries (SAMI) firm was established, in addition to the General Organization for Military Industries in Al-Kharj.

Oil companies that attended last month’s Future Investment Initiative (FII) are keen to attend IKTVA, Al-Falih said.

“Many blue chips such as Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and GE took great part in FII, and we saw $50 billion or more deals signed, many of which were in the energy sector,” he said.

The Kingdom is still standing strong as an investment attractive country, he added.

The state-run oil producer’s fourth annual IKTVA forum is taking place on November 26-27, and aims provide 50 investment opportunities for local and international firms, Argaam reported earlier.