SABIC will launch four new state-of-the-art technology and innovation facilities in 2013, representing a strategic investment of around half a billion US dollars. SABIC then has 18 research facilities around the world.

The Corporate Research & Innovation Center (CRI), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is scheduled for an April opening. It aims to exchange experience and knowledge between the researchers at SABIC and KAUST.

The SABIC Plastic Applications Development Center (SPADC), Riyadh Techno Valley at King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will open in the second quarter of 2013. It aims to be the center of excellence for automotive, packaging, consumer, construction, signage, and compounding. 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.

The Bangalore, India, research center is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2013. It will focus primarily on diverse areas of research in chemistry, material science, process engineering, analytical and application technology.

The center in Shanghai, China, will open in the third quarter of 2013. It will focus on fundamental and applied research in support of SABIC’s Strategic Business Units as well as the company’s Technology and Innovation unit’s corporate projects.

• Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia