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Saudi Arabia to Host IPTC Every 2 Years

A helmet with logo of Saudi Aramco is pictured at the oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
A helmet with logo of Saudi Aramco is pictured at the oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
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Saudi Arabia to Host IPTC Every 2 Years

A helmet with logo of Saudi Aramco is pictured at the oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
A helmet with logo of Saudi Aramco is pictured at the oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

Saudi Aramco started preparing for the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) 2022 that will be held in Saudi Arabia every two years.

The 12th edition of the IPTC, the largest international oil and gas conference, concluded in Dhahran on Wednesday. It was held under the patronage of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

The conference attracted a record 18,000 attendees and over 1,200 organizations from more than 70 countries, as well as over 250 exhibiting companies.

The Saudi cabinet, which on Wednesday held a meeting chaired by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, welcomed the opening of the 12th International Petroleum Technology Conference in the Kingdom, stressing that it was in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

There were prominent speakers such as Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Aramco Chairman Yasir Rumayyan, Bahrain’s Minister of Oil Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of Total Patrick Pouyanne, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ExxonMobil Darren W. Woods.

Aramco’s Senior Vice President of Upstream Mohammed Y. al-Qahtani affirmed that “the IPTC was the first international multi-disciplinary, inter-society oil and gas conference and exhibition held in Saudi Arabia.”

“The Kingdom, with some of the world’s largest oil reserves, occupies a unique position at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia, making it a fitting location for one of the largest and most prestigious international conferences for petroleum engineering,” he said.

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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.