POSCO E&C appoints Saudi board members

By Park Jin-hai

The company named Ahmed Al-Subaey, 55, Aramco's executive director for marketing, as inside director and Mohammad A. Abunayyan, ACWA Power’s chairman, as non-executive director, as recommended by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF).POSCO E&C, the construction unit of POSCO Group, held an interim shareholders meeting Thursday and appointed Saudi Aramco’s executive director as an inside director.

POSCO sold a 38 percent stake in its construction arm to PIF in September. Currently, POSCO is the largest shareholder with 52.8 percent stake in POSCO E&C, followed by PIF, with 38 percent and others with 9.2 percent.

Under the deal, the two plan to launch a joint venture for infrastructure and other construction projects commissioned by the Saudi Arabian government.

Al-Subaey will be POSCO E&C’s vice president, working as an adviser to the CEO. He will shuttle between Saudi and Korea, and be directly involved in POSCO E&C’s management.

Previously, he has served as S-Oil CEO between 2008 and 2012. During the time, his management and leadership were highly regarded here.

The company has a total of six board members including the two from Saudi Arabia.

It said Al-Subaey, with his deep understanding of the local market, can act as a bridge between Korea and Saudi Arabia, carrying out joint projects successfully.

“The new foreign board members are expected to inject changes to our corporate management system, bringing it nearer to global standards,” said a POSCO E&C official said. “Specifically, we believe it will improve transparency and efficiency in financing and risk management, as well as decision making.”