OREANDA-NEWS. February 20, 2013. Last month, Aramco Overseas Co. (AOC) was delighted to welcome the first on-the-job trainees (OJTs) on behalf of Sadara, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemicals Co., the world’s second largest chemicals manufacturer, reported the press-centre of Saudi Aramco.

With human capital being central to the venture, about 900 OJTs — half of whom are to be based in Europe — will be relocated out of Kingdom to learn key skills alongside Dow employees. One of the European locations where trainees will be based is Ternuezen, the Netherlands, where Dow houses one of its plastics businesses. The two Netherlands-based trainees visited Ternuezen last month ahead of 83 more from Saudi Arabia who will attend training at the facility in the coming years.

Upon receiving the first group of Sadara trainees, five of whom are based in Germany with a further two located in the Netherlands, AOC managing director Nabil Aldabal said: “We are delighted to welcome such bright minds to Europe on what will be an invaluable vocational opportunity for themselves and the company. The arrival of the trainees is clear intent of our desire to support the growth of the Kingdom’s economy.” 

Alongside Dow, Saudi Aramco will accelerate the readiness of hundreds of manufacturing employees being recruited to Sadara and will be crucial in developing hands-on capabilities alongside Dow’s experienced workforce. At the program’s peak, expected in the second half of 2013, about 50 trainees will be based together in the Netherlands, while similar numbers will be incumbent at other Dow sites around the world. The locations were chosen based on similarities between them and the ones being built as part of the venture.

AOC has played a key role in ensuring trainees have secured places at locations that will be crucial to their knowledge acquisition ahead of the production facility becoming operational in 2015.

Once completed, the Sadara complex will represent the largest petrochemical facility ever built in a single phase. From its location in Jubail Industry City II, it will establish a global scale manufacturing footprint that delivers a range of performance products for emerging markets in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.