On Monday, 15 September, the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) held a webinar entitled “The Future of the Petrochemical Industry and Sino-Saudi Cooperation,” with the collaboration of Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute and the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA). The webinar aimed to discuss the cooperative ways to achieve Saudi Vision 2030 and Belt and Road Initiative goals.
Local and international experts gathered to discuss the solution for the dramatic slowdown of global economic activity due to COVID-19, which led to a significant disruption to the global petrochemical industry, in addition to studying the impact of the lockdown restrictions and containing measures on the demand for petrochemicals.
The participants pondered the effects of the mutual partnerships between China and Saudi Arabia on rebuilding the supply chain resilience, facing the increasing pressure from trade disputes, rising protectionism and disruptions in global logistics, as well as the best strategies to cope with the current market turbulence and mitigate future risks.
The webinar comes in the context of KAPSARC’s energy webinar series, while the center focuses through its research programs on Energy and Macroeconomics, Transport and Urban Infrastructure, Energy Markets and Industrial Development, Energy Transitions and Electric Power, Policy and Decision Science, and Climate and Environment. In addition to these programs and workshops, the center also seeks to publish the summary and recommendations of these workshops on KAPSARC’s website.
The workshops held by KAPSARC are an interactive and participatory platform that brings together stakeholders, experts and specialists in energy and economics. The center collaborates with a number of global research centers, public policy organizations, government and industrial institutions to share knowledge, analyses and recommendations aimed at improving the welfare of societies locally and globally.