The parent company of Yokogawa Saudi Arabia Company, Tokyo-based Yokogawa Electric Corporation, has signed an MoU with Aramco, allowing the two companies to collaborate and explore potential opportunities for seeding and localising semiconductor chip manufacturing in Saudi Arabia and thereby promoting growth in the industrial digital business domain.

Under this MoU, Yokogawa, which has been a central member of Japan’s Minimal Fab Promoting Organization since 2017, will offer its expertise in deploying Minimal Fab technology to Aramco facilities. It will also provide related training, maintenance, and support services with a view to ensuring end-to-end success. Minimal Fab is an innovative production system that enables high-mix, low-volume manufacturing of semiconductors and MEMS without the need for a cleanroom.

Yokogawa, which is the only integrator of Minimal Fab technology, will serve as the optimal fit for Aramco as a one-stop provider of solutions including infrastructure development, start-up, operational support, and after-sales services, said a statement.