Officials urged Saudi students to enroll in polytechnic schools to lead and develop the nation’s energy industry.

The statement was made recently during the inauguration of the construction and drilling training center at the Saudi Technical Institute for Petroleum Services in Dammam.

The event was held under the auspices of Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif, who attended the institute’s graduation ceremony.

Khalid Al-Falih, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, attended the ceremony along with Ali Nasir Al-Ghofais, director of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), and Abdulrahman Abdulkarim, the ministry consultant and chairman of the institute’s board of trustees.

Ali Al-Naimi, minister of petroleum and mineral resources, said that the Saudi youth is capable of taking the lead in technical industries and oil excavations. He added that awareness programs should be dedicated to encourage more students to focus on the industrial sector.

Al-Naimi added that more students should attend polytechnic institutes instead of universities in order to support sustainable development of the Kingdom.

Khalid Al-Falih placed value on the role played by the Saudi Technical Institute for Petroleum Services in serving the Saudi youth and preparing them to work in the Kingdom’s petrochemicals sector. Al-Falih confirmed his company’s commitment to build a young generation ready to lead the Kingdom’s energy industry.

“Our company relies on training the youth to advance the nation’s petroleum industrial field,” he said, adding, that the company relies on three cores: a strong training foundation, qualified trainers and youth with high aspirations.

For his part, Ali Al-Ghofais said that a suitable working environment and a strong training foundation for the youth is needed to build local expertise in the field.

Al-Ghofais indicated that the TVTC plans to build institutes in alternative industries in the Kingdom such as the Waad Al-Shamal project and the Ar’ar mining institute, which aim to train up to 3,000 Saudi youth. Al-Ghofais said plans are under way to launch an institute specializing in petroleum industries in the Al-Ahsa area in the next three months in collaboration with Saudi Aramco.

Abdulrahman Abdulkarim said that the Technical Institute for Petroleum Services was an initiative driven by Ali-Naimi to prepare the Saudi youth to be a part of the energy market. “More than 2,000 trainees are enrolled in the three training centers and 70 companies have signed the training agreement,” Abdulkarim added.