Looking Toward the Next 75 Years
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Author: Louis Aboud (Saudi Aramco News)
Released 7 May 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 07, 2008 -- The Great Hall of the Library of Congress was the setting May 1 for a reception and dinner highlighted by an address from president and CEO Abdallah S. Jum‘ah, which both recognized Saudi Aramco’s 75th anniversary and honored the 22 participants in this year’s Saudi Aramco Management Development Seminar (SAMDS).
Saudi Aramco president and CEO delivers remarks at the Library of Congress during a dinner honoring the 22 participants of this year’s Saudi Aramco Management Development Seminar (SAMDS).
Jum‘ah met with the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington, and was taken on a tour of some of its current exhibits, including 6,487 books - more than 2,000 of which are original volumes - that represent Thomas Jefferson’s original library and the foundation of the Library of Congress.
Jum‘ah drew the parallel between the role of a library in preserving treasures of the past for the benefit of current and future generations, and Saudi Aramco’s own history, which is a living part of the company today. “Tonight, we as Aramcons look back on 75 years of achievement. We take pride in our company’s history, and in the values and traits which we have in common with those early trailblazers,” Jum‘ah told an audience of nearly 400 Washington opinion leaders, government officials, industry representatives and academics. U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman was in attendance and discussed energy markets with Jum‘ah.
Cooperation and partnership among Saudis, Americans and other nationalities was one of Saudi Aramco’s core ideals from the beginning, Jum‘ah said. That resulted in the sharing of knowledge among cultures. “The story of Aramco is one of partnership, not only between a group of U.S. oil companies and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but also among generations of individual Americans, Saudis and the citizens of dozens of other nations. … They raised their families side by side, forged lifelong friendships, and demonstrated that people from different cultures and societies can together accomplish extraordinary feats that benefit the entire world.”
Abdallah S. Jum‘ah talks to Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington in his office and chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division Mary Jane Deeb.
Looking forward to the next 75 years, Jum‘ah reassured the audience that Saudi Aramco, as the world’s leading energy exporter, takes seriously its responsibility as a reliable supplier in helping meet the world’s growing energy demand.
Jum‘ah called the SAMDS program, which is more than 30 years old, an excellent example of the company’s long-term commitment to knowledge sharing. “As we work to provide the energy supplies needed to power a growing global economy while simultaneously addressing environmental concerns,” he said, “our greatest strength will continue to be the collective talents of our people. ... These individuals (SAMDS participants) and their colleagues are the future of Saudi Aramco, and they will help to ensure that we deliver energy to the world for generations to come.”
Jum‘ah and Ahmad S. Al-Nassar, vice president of Management Services, also took time to meet with SAMDS participants, emphasizing how the program had changed over the years to maintain its relevance to the company’s changing global business environment. “SAMDS has been specifically designed and updated to directly enhance your sophistication and your capacity for improved strategic thinking and a global mindset,” Al-Nassar said.
Ahmad S. Al-Nassar tells SAMDS participants the program is designed to equip them for “improved strategic thinking and a global mindset.”
Jum‘ah also told the audience about the key role KAUST will have in the Kingdom’s development, with its mission of becoming one of the world’s great research institutions; of developing future generations of scientists, researchers, engineers and technologists; and of fostering collaboration and cooperation with other leading knowledge centers, as well as the private sector.
“We at Saudi Aramco continue to believe in the power of knowledge and innovation. For all of our vast petroleum reserves, our extensive industrial infrastructure, our world-scale computer centers and our complex technical equipment, the intellectual capabilities of the men and women of Saudi Aramco remain far and away the most powerful tools at our disposal,” Jum‘ah said.
“Likewise, I believe that their ability to create, synthesize and utilize knowledge will drive our next 75 years of providing energy to the world, and enable us to perform that role for many generations to come,” he concluded.
(Article by Louis Aboud)