The new facility will include an area of some 80,000 square meters, including about 43,000 square meters of building space.

Abdulrahman Al-Ubaid, executive vice president of technology and innovation, signed the accord on behalf of SABIC while Khaled bin Masa’ad El Seif, chief executive officer of El Seif, inked the agreement on behalf of his company.

During the ceremony, the audience viewed graphic representations of the new facility design and were briefed on a variety of applications under development, such as automobile bumpers, body panels, stadium seats and others.

Among those present at the signing ceremony included Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thenayan Al-Saud, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and chairman of SABIC; Prince Faisal Al-Saud, adviser to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Abdullah A. Al-Othman, rector of King Saud University; Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC vice chairman and CEO.

"The project reflects the close cooperation between SABIC and various Saudi universities, including King Saud University. It is also part of SABIC’s 2020 strategy, which emphasizes the importance of scientific research to serve industries and the process of innovation and for the creation of new industries," said Prince Saud.

He said the efforts made by Prince Faisal Al-Saud, who got this project accomplished.

"I would also like to acknowledge the support received from Khaled Al-Anqari, minister of higher education; Al-Othman and Azzam Shalabi, president of the National Industrial Clusters Development Program. My sincere gratitude to all of them. I also thank the working group of SABIC, the university,and all others who have worked hard and contributed to the achievement of this advanced stage of the project. I hope to meet you again soon when the project is fully accomplished,” the prince noted.

Thanking for the assistance by SABIC, Al-Othman said the university has been maintaining a historical relationship with SABIC.

Al-Mady said this center will support the continued expansion of SABIC’s new product portfolio, especially in the areas of packaging, automotive materials and compounding. He indicated that the new research facility will support the growth of downstream industries. "The Center will collaborate with customers in developing new plastic applications and provide technical support to SABIC’s local and international customers," he added.

The center,estimated to cost SR475 million, will be equipped with more than 300 state-of-the-art items of special research equipment to be operated by more than 150 expert researchers.