Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) will launch its new centres in Bangalore and Shanghai to host around 500 professionals, the company said in a statement.

Two other new centres will be based in Saudi Arabia itself and will take the total number of the company's research facilities around the world to 18.

The four new centres represent a strategic investment of around half a billion US dollars to continuously improve technology, applications and solutions and meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated marketplace, as well as address a wide variety of sustainability issues.

Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, said by continuing to invest in technology and innovation, SABIC is driving ingenuity forward to meet specific needs of customers as well as society.

"These four new facilities will further empower our global technology and innovation centres to build on their innovative systems to develop new technologies, improve manufacturing processes, and contribute to a sustainable environment for our communities," Al-Mady said.

The Bangalore research centre is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2013.

It will deal with application development, strategic business research and corporate research and will focus primarily on diverse areas of research in chemistry, material science, process engineering, analytical and application technology.

Its aim is to support business as a strategic centre of excellence to cater to global and regional needs.

The centre in Shanghai will open in the third quarter of 2013. It will deal with application development, strategic business research and corporate research.

PTI