Tag: Amin Nasser

SAUDI ARABIA: Winners of 09th Iqra competition from Iraq, Morocco and Saudi were crowned in Dhahran

Boasting an attendance of 16,000 people, including Nobel laureates in literature, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture concluded its ninth annual Iqra competition on Saturday.

Amin Nasser, Saudi Aramco’s president and CEO, and other senior officials attended the two-day event in Dhahran.

Nobel literature laureates Abdulrazak Gurnah and Olga Tokarczuk were also present and offered insights during speaking sessions.

Visitors experienced a series of activities, culminating in the announcement of the competition’s winners.

Moroccan Meryem Bououd was awarded Reader of the Year, while 10-year-old Moroccan Fatima Kettani won the Promising Reader prize.

Iraqi Hira Karkhi secured the Text of the Year prize, while the Reading School award went to Tarbiyat Al-Ajial of the Private International School, Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Safia Al-Ghubari claimed the People’s Reader award, while teacher Najla Ghazi Al-Suhaimi took home the Reading Ambassador prize.

Noura Al-Zamil, Ithra’s program director, spoke of the competition’s significant milestones since its inception in 2013.

Over nine editions Iqra has attracted more than 225,000 applicants and offered 48,000 hours of educational programming.

It has also engaged more than 600 speakers from 30 countries, bringing three Nobel Prize-winning authors to its stage.

Al-Zamil stressed Ithra’s continued efforts to innovate, introducing new elements like the Iqra Travels, Iqra Marathon, and Kitabiya Exhibit, to foster a reading culture among Arab youngsters.

The closing event featured cultural sessions, including a talk by Tokarczuk, who discussed literature as a tool for bridging languages and cultures.

Discussing the future, Tokarczuk expressed both optimism and caution, adding: “I embrace modern tools like ChatGPT but remain concerned about their potential misuse.”

Gurnah, reflecting on his roots, said: “Zanzibar will always be my true homeland, despite my long absence.”

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

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Boasting an attendance of 16,000 people, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture concluded its ninth annual Iqra competition on Saturday. (Supplied)

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IRAQ / MOROCCO / SAUDI ARABIA

SAUDI ARABIA: South Korea President joins Aramco CEO for $7bn Petrochemical Plant’s groundbreaking ceremony in Ulsa, South Korea, March 2023

Building work on Saudi Aramco’s new $7 billion Shaheen petrochemical project in Ulsa, South Korea has officially begun after a groundbreaking ceremony involving the energy giant’s CEO.

Amin Nasser attended the inauguration event alongside South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol and senior officials from both countries.

The Shaheen project, announced in November 2022, is being built by South Korean refiner S-OIL Corp., of which Aramco owns a more than 63 percent stake.

“We are deeply honored by the presence of His Excellency President Yoon at this historic groundbreaking ceremony,” said Nasser – also the Aramco President.

“Shaheen is among Aramco’s biggest international downstream investments, representing a significant and sizeable step forward in our liquids-to-chemicals expansion and another major milestone in further strengthening our presence in Korea,” he continued. 

Shaheen is Saudi Aramco’s largest investment in South Korea and is expected to be among the biggest integrated steam crackers – a petrochemical process – in the world. 

It is also the first large-scale commercial use of Aramco’s thermal crude-to-chemicals technology, which was developed in partnership with Lummus Technology, a leading licensor of proprietary petrochemicals. 

The construction of the new plant will be completed by 2026 and will have a production capacity of up to 3.2 million tons per year, in addition to a facility for producing high-value polymers. 

Aramco has established a solid relationship with South Korea, and has recently agreed to a $6 billion framework deal with the country’s export-import bank.

According to the deal, Eximbank can lend Saudi Aramco up to $6 billion, which can be used to fund South Korean enterprises involved in projects with the global energy firm, whereas the bank indicated that $1 billion is set aside for hydrogen and renewable energy projects. 

Moreover, Aramco also inked a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s Hoban Group last month to collaborate in building and manufacturing.

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

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South Korea’s President Yoon (centre) with Aramco president Amin Nasser (Supplied)

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SAUDI ARABIA