State oil and gas firm Saudi Aramco on Monday announced an expansion to a program which aims at boosting industrial and digital capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

The expansion to the In-Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) program includes plans for new international partnerships and the establishing of firms through an Industrial Investment Program (IIP), which is linked to the development of Aramco's business, it said in a statement.

“These strategic collaborations pave the way for the launch of new businesses across multiple innovative growth sectors, including steel plate manufacturing, industrial 3D printing, digital equipment manufacturing, energy management and control; catalyst manufacturing and recycling, and advanced chip and smart sensor manufacturing,” Aramco said.

As part of the expansion, Aramco has signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreements with Shell & AMG Recycling BV (AMG) from the Netherlands and Posco from South Korea.

“These new partnerships will contribute to advancing innovation, sustainability and enhance the scale of reliability in our business ecosystem and, in addition, benefit companies operating in the Kingdom's vast energy and chemicals sector,” said Amin Nasser, Aramco’s president and CEO.