Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON)will be participating at this year’s In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) Forum and Exhibition, showcasing its advanced technologies that support Saudi Arabia’s long-term strategic objectives related to localization and sustainability. During the event – to be held at the Dhahran Expo from January 24 to 26 – Honeywell will highlight its history of industrial leadership in Saudi Arabia, announce several milestone localization developments and showcase its role in developing a thriving knowledge-based economy in the country.
Honeywell is a global technology company, with a portfolio of software-led solutions that help companies make sense of their operational data. Honeywell’s technologies turn this data into actionable business insights, to enable critical industries to reach new levels of operational performance, efficiency, safety and security.
Honeywell’s presence in Saudi Arabia includes an office in Riyadh and a further six facilities in the country, including world class research and development and engineering centers that develop highly advanced technologies for the Kingdom and the wider Middle East region. Approximately half of Honeywell’s local workforce are Saudi nationals.
Commenting on the event Mohammed Mohaisen, president and CEO, Honeywell Middle East and North Africa said; “We commend the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and of Aramco on the continued success of the IKTVA initiative and are proud to be attending this year’s forum as Gold Sponsors. Saudi Arabia is a highly significant part of our global operation and a key hub for our advanced research and development programs – the outcomes of which advance critical economic sectors across the Middle East.”
“Our technologies, including those developed and manufactured here in the Kingdom, are solving the region’s most pressing objectives, from driving forward the energy transition to economic diversification across urbanization, tourism, transportation, logistics and healthcare.IKTVA is the ideal platform to demonstrate the impact of our initiatives, projects and facilities in bringing important economic benefits to the Kingdom, as well as supporting the development of the next generation of local engineers and technology experts,” added Mohaisen.
Bridge Technologies for a Zero Carbon Future
During this year’s IKTVA, Honeywell will announce a number of new milestone initiatives in support of its commitment to localization in Saudi Arabia. It will also promote several important technologies from its portfolio that can help the Kingdom achieve its target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2060.
These include carbon capture solutions that pave the way for transition to blue hydrogen,and the company’s single-stage Ecofining™ process to produce Green Jet Fuel™, capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65-85% compared with petroleum-based fuel, and Honeywell Green Diesel™, which is chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel and can be used as a drop-in replacement in vehicles with no modifications.
Commitment to Localization
In 2020Honeywell announced it would be the first international company to produce gas detectors in Saudi Arabia, creating production jobs for Saudi nationals that enhance workforce skills and capabilities. The devices provide a reliable and cost-effective way to ensure the safety, compliance and productivity of workers operating in hazardous environments.
The gas detector production facility complements Honeywell’s Customer Solutions Center in Dhahran, which enables in-country manufacturing and integration for advanced automation technologies and consolidates product assembly, customer testing, and acceptance under one roof, making it easier for customers to deploy new technologies around the region.
Also, in late 2021, Honeywell signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Aramco to explore the commercialization of next-generation digital technology solutions designed to improve productivity, sustainability and operational excellence of industrial firms on a global scale. The fully digital technology collaboration is expected tocreate more than 500 jobs in Saudi Arabia within five years and utilizes Honeywell’s global software development and commercialization expertise.
Research, development and future engineering talent
Honeywell has a decade-long collaboration with Aramco and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), in Dhahran,researching solutions such as new catalytic processes for producing paraxylene, an aromatic compound used in making textiles, packaging material and containers.
Honeywell’s close ties with academic institutions such as KFUPM play a critical role in the development of world class Saudi engineering talent, which the company also supports through its Automation Colleges in Dhahran and Jubail.
Honeywell has been operating in Saudi Arabia for more than 70 years, starting with the sale of thermostats to Aramco in 1948. Today the company provides innovative automation technologies, control systems and critical infrastructure protection to Saudi Arabia’s key government and private sector entities in the fields of smart cities, building automation, oil and gas, refining and petrochemicals, defense, aviation, infrastructure development, security and fire safety.