In the 1970's, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the major supplier of crude oil to Japan, in keeping with its modernization policy, established a plan for the development of its petrochemical industry through the more efficient use of its abundant hydrocarbon resources. In response to requests from Saudi Arabia, SPDC was established in 1979 as a pilot study company by a number of Japanese corporations. In 1981, with the aid of a capital contribution from the Japanese Government, SPDC became an investment company, carrying out its work in the petrochemical industry as a national project.
Together with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation （SABIC）, SPDC made a feasibility study of the project, which resulted in the signing of a 50/50 joint venture agreement and the establishment of Eastern Petrochemical Company （SHARQ） in Saudi Arabia in 1981.
SPDC's area of cooperation in the realization of this new project included supervising the construction of plants, conducting plant operations, staff training and also marketing of the products. As a result of the success of the original project, an expansion plan was undertaken and the construction of further plants （the first expansion） was completed in 1994, giving SHARQ world-class production capabilities.
Furthermore, after realization of the second expansion in 2000, we started commercial operation in April 2010 of the plants constructed as part of the third expansion. This enabled SHARQ to be one of the largest plants in the world for EG and PE.
At the same time, over 92% （end of 2010） of SHARQ company staff are Saudi Arabian, and in line with the government policy, the technology transfer has been performed smoothly. In terms of safety record, SHARQ achieved another milestone in August 2007 and obtained an honor from JISHA （Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association） for 20 million man-hours of operation without lost time injury.

We continue to foster our mission which we established back in 1981 and devote ourselves to providing high quality products for our customers, realizing stable and safe operation through efficient management and concern for environmental protection. Finally, we would be deeply gratified if we could contribute something to the cordial relationship between Saudi Arabia and Japan through our activities.

October 2011