Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) will launch four new state-of-the-art technology and innovation facilities this year, two in Saudi Arabia and one each in India and China, bringing its worldwide total to 18.

The four new centres represent a strategic investment of around $500 million to continuously improve technology, applications and solutions and meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated marketplace, as well as address a wide variety of sustainability issues.

Mohamed Al Mady, vice chairman and CEO, Sabic, said: “By continuing to invest in technology and innovation, Sabic is driving ingenuity forward to meet specific needs of customers as well as society. These four new facilities will further empower our global technology and innovation centres to build on their innovative systems to develop new technologies, improve manufacturing processes, and contribute to a sustainable environment for our communities.”

The two centres in Saudi Arabia are the Corporate Research and Innovation Centre (CRI) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) in Thuwal, near Jeddah; and the Sabic Plastic Applications Development Centre (Spadc) in Riyadh Techno Valley at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh.

Spadc, which is set to open in the second quarter of the year, aims to develop new applications and products that support Sabic’s business growth.

Spadc aims to be the centre of excellence for automotive, packaging, consumer, construction, signage, and compounding. It will work closely with Sabic’s other technology and innovation centers to achieve set targets, including training customers and employees.

The centre will enable Saudi Arabia to enter advanced industrial fields, and support the national industrial clusters development programme to develop industries such as packaging, automotive and machinery. It will help develop new plastics applications and extend technical support to local and international customers in various fields, including polymers, elastomers and specialty products.