DHAHRAN: Top-ranking Chinese companies are making the most of their presence at the ongoing Saudi Arabia International Oil and Gas Exhibition (SAOGE).
China Petroleum Technology and Development Corporation (CPTDC) and Sinopec have attracted a large number of visitors to their massive stands at the Dhahran International Exhibition Center.
"Our mother company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), is a state-owned oil giant; it is the largest integrated energy company in China," said Yuan Lu (Basir), the chief representative for CPTDC in Saudi Arabia. "You can call CNPC as the Saudi Aramco of China."
Talking to Arab News yesterday, he said his company has been doing business in Saudi Arabia for the last five years and has two major clients in Saudi Aramco and Saipem.
"We supply a lot of equipment to Saipem such as drilling line and rigs," said Yuan.
This is CPTDC's third time at SAOGE. "Since we have had a pretty good response during the previous editions of this exhibition, we decided to go in for the biggest and largest stand at SAOGE 2012," he said.
CPTDC is the largest supplier of Chinese petroleum and petrochemical materials and equipment in the world.
"Our company is an approved vendor for Saudi Aramco, and we all know that Saudi Aramco always sets the highest benchmark in the oil and gas industry. This market is very tough to crack," said Yuan. "Having said that, our worldwide experience gives us a tremendous competitive advantage over others. We know the requirements of this market, and that is why we have achieved good success in these last five years."
According to Yuan, there are three kinds of visitors at SAOGE. "Top on the list is our primary and most important client Saudi Aramco and Saipem, their representatives are looking for good and competitive products. Local contractors follow them. They are basically looking for latest equipment for their projects. Then there are the local agents. They are interested in distributing our state-of-the-art products," he said.
Yuan is delighted with the good response. "For sure, CPTDC is getting good and interesting enquiries, and we hope to clinch many deals and open many accounts in Saudi Arabia and in the region," he said.
The Sinopec stand was busy throughout the day. Oliver Juria, division chief, oil and gas business development, and Yan Yan, key account officer, were at hand to explain the company's rising profile in Saudi Arabia.
"This is our second time at SAOGE," said Juria. "The first time was in 2010, and many of the projects that we are currently executing were a direct result of our presence here in 2010."
According to Juria, in 2010 the idea was to introduce the company. "We wanted to let the people know who we are," he said. "Sinopec has now established itself in Saudi Arabia and we have seen nearly 30 percent increase in our business in 2011."
He said by being at SAOGE 2012, Sinopec wanted to convey to the people and the industry in Saudi Arabia, "that we are here to partner with them in the industrial growth of the Kingdom."
Yan Yan said those who have been visiting the company stand wanted to know more the Sinopec culture. "They are interested in us and our business activity," he said. "And we are more than happy to field their queries."
He highlighted Sinopec's focus on imparting training to Saudi youngsters. "Last year, we trained 1,500 Saudis; some of them were absorbed in the company's various operations. We plan to increase this number," said Yan Yan.
The two Sinopec executives admitted that it was not easy to set up business in the Saudi market. "We all know that American and European companies dominated this market in the past. There will always be tough competition," said Juria.
Asian companies, they say, have huge opportunities in Saudi Arabia. "More important, Sinopec has been in this business for 60 years and we have good idea on how to compete in this highly competitive market. Our success here in the last couple of years is proof of that fact that we are second to none," said Juria.
SAOGE 2012, organized jointly by the Rome-based International Exhibition Services (IES) and Dhahran International Exhibitions Company (DIEC), ends at 2:30 p.m. today.
Chinese firms vie for key contracts at SAOGE
Chinese firms vie for key contracts at SAOGE
Private sector dynamism driving labor market growth in Saudi Arabia, landmark report says
RIYADH: A “structural shift” in the Saudi economy has led to the share of citizens employed in the private sector reaching 52.8 percent, surpassing the 51.4 percent target, according to a landmark report.
Prepared in collaboration with the Global Labor Market Conference, World Bank Group and the Kingdom’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the release titled “A Decade of Progress,” offers an analytical overview of the nation’s job market transformation over the past decade.
Figures as of the second quarter of 2025 showed the Kingdom was not only ahead of its target for the year for the share of Saudis working in the private sector, but only 5.5 percentage points away from the Saudi Vision 2030 goal of 58.3 percent.
The analysis also highlights a structural shift in the role of the private sector in Saudi Arabia’s job market, particularly among women.
Strengthening the private sector and enhancing women’s participation in the workforce is a crucial goal outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 agenda, as the nation is steadily pursuing its economic diversification efforts by reducing its dependence on crude revenues.
“The private sector is now one of the driving forces behind new job growth in Saudi Arabia, in line with its economic diversification vision. Employment ratios increased as inactive individuals moved into jobs, driving a notable drop in Saudi unemployment and expanding the productive workforce,” said Cristobal Ridao-Cano, practice manager for social protection and labor in the Middle East and North Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan at the World Bank.
He added: “The knowledge attained from Saudi Arabia’s transformation model can be transferred to other countries.”
The Kingdom has the goal of increasing the share of Saudi citizens employed in the private sector to 58.3 percent by the end of this decade.
According to the report, the share of employment in micro-enterprises increased from 6 percent in 2015 to 26 percent of total employment by 2025, underscoring the sector’s vitality.
This improvement was supported by a sustained decline in labor market mismatch over the decade, and an increase in education-to-job matching from 41 percent in 2015 to 62 percent in 2025, reducing skills-related barriers to employment.
“Labor market frictions also declined, reflected in a notable rise in job-to-job transitions and increased labor mobility toward private sector firms,” added the study.
According to the analysis, the Kingdom witnessed a notable expansion in the productive labor force, driven by an increase in participation to 67.1 percent by 2025.
Saudi Arabia’s overall unemployment rate recorded a significant decline, reaching 2.8 percent by mid-2025, as increasing numbers of economically inactive individuals moved directly into occupations.
Female employment increased from 11 percent in 2015 to 32 percent in 2025, while work among mothers rose from 8 percent to 45 percent over the same period.
The employment rate in the category of youth, aged between 18 and 24, increased from 10 percent in 2015 to 33 percent in 2025, while the share of youth not in education, employment, or training declined from 40 percent to 25 percent during the same period.
The report also highlighted a significant shift in social norms and job search preferences.
From 2015 to 2025, the share of individuals unwilling to work declined from 49 percent to 12 percent, while the preference gap between the public and private sectors narrowed considerably.
The share of jobseekers who were exclusively seeking public sector jobs fell from 60 percent to 10 percent for men, and from 48 percent to 22 percent for women.
A large share of jobseekers now target private sector opportunities, reflecting stronger alignment between work preferences and actual job search behavior.
“Social norms related to women’s employment also shifted substantially. Acceptance of women working in mixed-gender workplaces has increased, directly contributing to higher female employment in private sector companies, expanding opportunities available to women, and strengthening their integration into the labor market,” added the report.
