EQUATE Petrochemical Company, Kuwait's first international joint-venture in this market, and Gulf Cryo, a leading producer of commercial, medical and specialty gases in the MENA area, hosted a main event for the inauguration of Kuwait's first Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Plant under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Commerce & Industry Dr. Yousef Al-Ali.

Throughout the launch, Al-Ali stated, "It is a source of excellent pleasure to join you in this inauguration as it corresponds with Kuwait's national celebrations, which consists of Kuwait's 55th National Day, 25th Liberation Day, the 10th Anniversary of the accession of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, as well as the 10th Anniversary of calling His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as the Crown Prince of Kuwait. Throughout the years, Kuwait has understood a number of achievements in establishing the industrial sector as a key contributor to diversifying earnings sources, using latest innovation, enhancing the function of productive fields, and, most notably, attracting highly certified human resources with their innovative capabilities. All of these are in alignment with the directions of His Highness the Amir to turn Kuwait into a monetary and financial center to serve the country and its individuals.

Gulf Cryo Vice Chairman Saad Al-Shuwaib stated, "The CO2 plant is a pioneering ecological initiative to preserve and safeguard Kuwait's environment. It is a reflection of the commitment by industrial bodies to the environment. This plant is genuinely a milestone as it is collaboration in between 2 personal entities, EQUATE and Gulf Cryo that resulted in developing the plant within record time while preserving worldwide finest practices through using the latest technology to make high quality products. This has contributed to Gulf Cryo's products being certifies as food-grade and we have actually become a leader in providing CO2 to numerous industrial bodies. We hope such partnerships by the private sector would continue in collaboration with federal government organizations to release other partnership benefitting the society and country.

Starting our partnership with Gulf Cryo because 2004 is truly an example of 'Partners in Success' to ensure sustainable financial, ecological and commercial added-values for Kuwait and beyond. Our collaboration with Gulf Cryo is about sustainability-based environmental quality to secure the environment by lowering the carbon footprint and replacing traditional CO2 sources. This can be achieved through having total combination between commercial bodies in partnership with main companies, such as the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Environment Public Authority (EPA), Public Authority for Industry (PAI), Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD), Ministry of Interior's Directorate General for Vital security and others with us today for this celebration.

Intended at achieving a number of financial, commercial and ecological added-values for overall sustainability in Kuwait, this plant is part of innovation-based efforts by EQUATE and Gulf Cryo in their company collaboration that began in 2004. With a design capability of 280 metric heaps per day, the plant includes EQUATE providing raw CO2 resulting from its industrial operations to Gulf Cryo. In addition, the collaboration is a prime example for integration between commercial companies and economic diversity for Kuwait.