On the morning of May 14, 20 community residents stepped into the FREP production site and experienced the production, construction and environmental protection of the company. Since the introduction of the Factory Open Day, this is the second time community residents have been invited into the factory.

With people's growing awareness of environmental protection, it has become a major concern of the company to achieve harmony with the environment and the community in the process of development. The public participation is an important part of the harmonious and sustainable development. In fact, the business development and the social harmony have become totally inseparable from each other.

For people living in the area surrounding FREP, it is a rare opportunity for them to be able to visit the factory. "As a petrochemical enterprise dealing with highly flammable and explosive substances, we implement rigid safety regulations and visitors' entries into the plant are restricted to a certain extent. In the past, the public would also visit the factory, but there was not such a system in place," the HSE department staff said.

"FREP is really confident to open the door to the public!" It was still early when the participants of the Factory Open Day came to the assigned assembly point.

Before the visit actually began, FREP had a “required routine”, the HSE reminder, which aroused the curiosity in representatives. The HSE reminder is highly standardized, including not only safety precautions but also evacuation instructions in case of emergencies.

Unlike what the residents had expected, there was no pungent smell. In the central control room of the new plant, rows of DCS operator stations were controlling the operations of the production equipment.

In high spirits, the residents were also taken to the production site to observe the safety and environmental protection situation. In the wastewater cleaning treatment site, the turbid effluent became crystal clear and reusable after a series of filtration. "Through technologies like ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis, the waste water becomes 'purified water' to be reused by the production devices, which reduces the consumption of fresh water," the environmental protection technicians introduced in the presence of the residents.

After a tour of the factory, the residents also listened to an introduction by Vice President Abdullah H.Al Sebail of the company's development process, assumption of social responsibilities, application of clean technologies, provision of green products and recycling of resources. In a frank and warm atmosphere, the residents raised a series of questions of common concern on the company production and the environmental conditions in the surrounding area, which the staff of various departments readily answered.

"We have invited the public into the company to show them comprehensively what FREP actually is. We hope to establish a platform for communication between the enterprise and the public. We will listen to what the representatives have to say, which will help improve our work in many respects," Vice President Abdullah H.Al Sebail said.

During the visit and communication, the company introduced the residents to a basic knowledge of petrochemical production so that the residents got a better understanding of the wide range of applications of ethylene and other petrochemical derivative products in industrial production and people's life.

"The Factory Open Day reflects FREP's confidence and frankness. Concealment will only lead to misunderstanding and criticism. Meanwhile, we hope that the company will conduct more publicity in the community so that more residents can better understand the enterprise's safety and environmental protection efforts, thus achieving a win-win situation and a harmonious community," a participating resident was quoted as saying.

"After what I have witnessed at FREP, I feel completely relieved. I also hope that you continue to attach great importance to safety and environmental protection so that everybody can rest assured our living environment," another resident said with relief.

In his words are affirmation and expectation as well.