Sadara welcomes fresh batch of student interns

The program creates a potential pool of national talent that has been trained, supervised and evaluated within the Sadara work environment.
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Updated 14 February 2021
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Sadara welcomes fresh batch of student interns

Sadara Chemical Company recently received the first batch of students as part of its internship program for 2021. Twenty student interns joined the company, 11 of them diploma holders and 9 with bachelor’s degrees. Students were brought onboard from three different educational institutions, namely: Jubail Technical Institute, Jubail University College and King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals.
Sadara’s vice president of industrial relations Farhan Al-Qahtani said: “Our team works diligently to achieve the company’s objectives for our social responsibility and human resources strategy and focuses on developing and qualifying national manpower to fulfil the Saudi market’s requirements as well as the company’s continuing demand for new employees, whether on a technical or administrative level, in alignment with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”
He added: “Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sadara has successfully exceeded its Saudization target of 71 percent by reaching 71.8 percent in 2020, and the company aims to continue such rates while maintaining a diverse selection of qualified professionals and empowering more women in the workplace.”

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The student interns have been selected from Jubail Technical Institute, Jubail University College and King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals.

The internship program is one of the company’s primary non-employee training programs, supporting Sadara’s business lines in terms of fulfilling their manpower needs. The program includes highly competent trainees selected from local educational institutions and creates a potential pool of national talent that has been trained, supervised and evaluated for a sufficient period within the Sadara work environment.
Sadara is a joint venture developed by Saudi Aramco and the Dow Chemical Company. It is a multibillion-dollar world-scale chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. Comprising 26 world-scale manufacturing units, the Sadara chemical complex is the world’s largest to be built in a single phase and is the only chemical company in the Middle East to use refinery liquids, such as naphtha and natural gasoline, as feedstock.

By using best-in-class technologies to crack refinery liquid feedstock, Sadara aims to enable many industries that either currently do not exist in Saudi Arabia or only exist through imports of raw materials.


Saudi Awwal Bank becomes first Middle East bank to earn 7-star CinOrg innovation accreditation

Saeed Assiri, chief innovation banking officer at SAB
Updated 05 March 2026
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Saudi Awwal Bank becomes first Middle East bank to earn 7-star CinOrg innovation accreditation

Saudi Awwal Bank has become the first bank in the Middle East to receive a 7‑star Certified Innovative Organization rating from the Global Innovation Institute, the highest recognition awarded by the institute.

The accreditation marks a significant step in SAB’s innovation strategy and follows an innovation maturity assessment conducted by the institute in December 2025. The review, which built on an earlier assessment in December 2023, raised the bank’s maturity level from “Champion” to “Leader.” The new rating reflects SAB’s institutionalized approach to innovation, its enterprise-wide impact and its ability to consistently deliver measurable results.

With the 7‑star rating, SAB becomes the first bank in the region to reach the highest innovation maturity level, strengthening its position as a regional reference point for innovation-led and future-ready banking.

In 2025, the bank opened its flagship Innovation Centre and secured six internationally recognized innovation awards, along with a lab accreditation. The centre has supported SAB’s efforts to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies, encourage cross-functional collaboration and reinforce its standing as a regional leader in financial innovation.

Saeed Assiri, chief innovation banking officer at SAB, said the recognition reflects years of focused work to build a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

“By investing in SAB’s culture, governance and talent, innovation enables the bank to remain future-ready,” he said. “This milestone reinforces our role in accelerating financial innovation in Saudi Arabia and delivering long-term value for our customers.”

The certification adds to SAB’s broader efforts to strengthen its innovation capabilities as the Kingdom’s banking sector continues to evolve.