Tasnee and Cristal Global celebrated the graduation of 170 young Saudis from Jazan in the first training program introduced by Cristal Academy.
This graduation qualified the young men to join work in Cristal Ilmenite Slagger in Jazan Economic City that will cost $550 million.
Abdullah Al-Swayed attended the celebration on behalf of Jazan Gov. Prince Mohamed bin Naser.
Talal A. Al-Shaer, vice-chairman of Tasnee and chairman and CEO of Cristal Global, and Jamal Nahhas, Cristal president, were also present.
Al-Swayed delivered certificates and granted gifts to the trainees.
Some of them hold engineering degrees and others technical secondary certificates.
Al-Swayed congratulated the graduates and hoped that they would get more opportunities granted by companies to Saudi citizens.
He also thanked Al-Shaer for celebrating the occasion and announcing the program.
From his side Al-Shaer expressed his deep gratitude and appreciation to Al-Swayed for honoring and attending the celebration that included the region’s people to achieve all the best for all.
Al-Shaer also acknowledged to the attendees Cristal history through a documentary film.
He also gave a brief introduction to the training program in Jazan Slagger project showing the job opportunities offered by Cristal.
Al-Shaer said Cristal Academy is an educational organization targets enabling the individuals and work teams, develop their practical and technical skills, and give them detailed information about titanium industry all over the world.
There are 3 facilities in the academy introducing 1500 training courses, 500 online courses, introduced by 60 trainers and 10 experts having variety of knowledge.
Omar Al-Najjar, Cristal VP-HR, said that Cristal requires self-sufficiency of labor by arming the Saudi labor with global skills that make them able to lead the company to the future.
Jamal Nahhas, Cristal president, announced that the factory will start work in mid-2014 to be the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
The factory will process the row material of Ilmenite to be transferred to a high quality Titanium Dioxide 85 percent to 92 percent to be used in Titanium Dioxide pigments that is widely and daily used to produce many products like paints, papers, plastics, inks, rubber and others.
The Finnish Toho Titanium Company will offer the best technologies Cristal Slagger in Jazan Economic City for smelting Ferro-alloys (slags) that complies the European Union Standards.
The Slagger will start production with 500.000 tons of Titanium slag in addition to 230,000-235,000 tons of iron to be used as a feedstock for local iron factories for the first time in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
Cristal plans to increase the slagger production capacity to 1 million tons.
The slagger will enable Cristal to be strong competitor in market and enable it to cover the international shortage Titanium Dioxide Slag in the next few years.
Cristal mines of row material in Australia will offer the Ilmenite metal for the slagger, and the local facility will offer Titanium metal locally for the first time in Saudi Arabia.
According to Cristal expectations 75 percent of jobs offered by the slagger and 570 jobs in the facility in the next 5 years will be introduced to Saudis.
Tasnee has the biggest share of 66 percent in Cristal and is considered as a pioneer in nationalyzing jobs (Saudization) through its multiple projects especially its newest projects in Hail Economic City that include 4 factories with investment of SR500 million.