The 31st Annual Saudi-Japan Symposium was held at KFUPM Dhahran Techno Valley on December 12 and 13, 2022, jointly hosted by 4 entities: Saudi Aramco, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), The Japan Petroleum Institute (JPI) and JCCP. In the opening, honorable guests presented their remarks. Notably, H.E. Dr. Muhammad M. Al-Saggaf, President of KFUPM, Mr. Ahmed Al-Khowaiter, CTO of Saudi Aramco, Mr. Makoto Yokota, Managing Director Secretary General of JCCP and Dr. Atsushi Muramatsu, President of JPI and Professor of Tohoku University.
In the Keynote Speech, Dr. Atsushi Muramatsu gave a lecture. The symposium attracted an unusually large audience of more than 140 researchers, students and Japanese companies’ representatives in the region. The symposium theme of this year was “Technology in Fuels & Petrochemicals” and there were 19 presentations (of which 5 were given by Japanese presenters sent to this symposium).
The symposium and poster sessions cover plenty of fields. On petroleum refining, “Heavy Oil Upgrading and Hydrocracking”, and on petrochemicals, “Manufacturing Technology for Olefins and Basic Chemicals” were presented. Also on new fields, there were “Recycling Technology for Municipal Waste and Waste Polymers”, “Hydrogen Production Technology”, and so on. Among the lecturers, one female researcher made a lecture. In addition, during poster sessions, two female researchers made presentations. Between presenters and audience, many active questions and answers were exchanged.
Prior to the symposium, the 30th Japan-Saudi Arabia Joint Symposium Commemorative Party, which had been postponed since last year, was held on December 11 at the Movenpick Al-Khobar Hotel, with about 100 participants from Saudi Arabia and Japanese companies in the region. Mr. Fumio Iwai, Japanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Saudi Arabia, Dr. Atsushi Muramatsu, President of JPI, Mr. Ahmed Al-Khowaiter, CTO of Saudi Aramco, Mr.Eiji Hiraoka. Special Counselor of JCCP, and Dr. Ali Ahmad Al-Shaikhi, Vice President, Research and Innovation of KFUPM made opening greetings, expressing their gratitude for the symposium over the years and their expectations for its further development.