The summit was aimed at accelerating collaboration on technology development and best practice in support of the kingdom’s sustainability goals
It also provided a forum for discussion on latest technologies and innovation pathways toward a sustainable energy transition and on driving the decarbonisation of industry, in line with MENA Climate Week and COP28. Held under the theme of ‘Helping Make Sustainable More Attainable,’ the event was attended by senior executives from key entities including Aramco, Saudi Electric Company and Saudia, as well as Saudi Ministry of Energy and Saudi Ministry of Investment.
During the event attendees participated in keynote presentations, roundtable discussions and technology breakouts across a range of topics. This included presentations on latest advancements in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), efficient refining solutions, emissions management, energy storage, low global warming potential refrigerants, and digitalisation technologies for buildings and industry.
Honeywell said it supports the digitalisation of industries in Saudi Arabia through its dedicated workforce, processes and technologies that accelerate automation and advance sustainability objectives. 50% of Honeywell’s workforce in the kingdom are Saudi nationals and, of those, 25% are women – many of whom are engineers directly supporting key Saudi Aramco projects.
As well as running a series of training programs to support the professional development of Saudi technologists and engineers, in 2023 Honeywell and Aramco announced the opening of a new joint venture, Plant.Digital, which is enabling industrial companies to fully digitalise their operations and is set to create hundreds of jobs for Saudi nationals in the next five years.
Senior leadership from Honeywell was also in attendance, including Lucian Boldea, president and CEO of Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT) – who also hosted an executive roundtable during the event, as well as Anant Maheshwari, president & CEO of Global High Growth Regions and Abdullah Al-juffali, president of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Also attending the summit was Fai Al Sanea, a senior engineering supervisor at Honeywell who is working to support more women in Saudi Arabia to pursue engineering careers. Fai was recently recognised with an ‘Engineering Leader Under 40’ award by media platform ‘Control Engineering.’
“Saudi Arabia has a leadership position in global sustainability goals through its transformative initiatives, including the Circular Carbon Economy National Programme, Saudi Green Initiative and Net Zero 2060 pledge,” commented Al-juffali. “We are proud of our seven decades of technology advancement and localisation in the kingdom and remain committed to supporting its economic growth through automation and digitalisation, creating more career opportunities for Saudi nationals, and accelerating the drive towards Net Zero.”
“We launched our inaugural Middle East Sustainability Summit to support the key priority of sustainability strategies across the region, which is one of partnerships,” said George Bou Mitri, vice president and general manager for Honeywell PMT, Middle East and North Africa. “We have a portfolio of technologies available today to help Saudi Arabia and the wider region meet their ambitious sustainability goals, but it is through cross-sector collaboration that the full potential of technology can be realised. We are delighted to have hosted visionary leaders from across the kingdom’s industries and sectors, to share best practice ideas for leveraging technologies as a key enabler of the road to Net Zero by 2060.”
