Ali Al-Jaber

The first Arab entrepreneur to develop a multinational corporation in the petrochemical industry

Ali Al-Jaber (1910-1968) was a Saudi visionary who founded the Middle East's first privately-owned petrochemical company. Born in Kuwait during the British protectorate era, he pioneered the region's industrialization by establishing Gulf Chemical Industries in 1938. His company became the first Arab enterprise to export refined petroleum products to Europe, breaking European monopolies in the sector.

Al-Jaber's innovation included developing the first Arabic-language technical manuals for oil refinery operations, training over 3,000 Arab engineers by 1950. His 1952 partnership with Iran's National Iranian Oil Company created the first cross-border energy consortium in the region. The Al-Jaber Technical Institute he founded in 1947 remains a leading Gulf institution for petroleum engineering education.

Despite facing opposition from British colonial authorities, his 1960s diversification into plastics manufacturing made him a pioneer of Arab industrial autonomy. His memoir Petrochemicals and Progress (1965) details his vision for Arab economic independence. The Al-Jaber Innovation Prize, established in 2000, continues to fund renewable energy projects in the Arabian Peninsula.