LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the announcement by the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) of huge investments at its facility in Teesside, northwest England, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

"Fantastic to see nearly £1 billion invested in SABIC's Teesside facility, creating and safeguarding 1,000 jobs. It's a huge vote of confidence in the UK's chemicals and processing industry, which is pioneering innovation in clean, green technology," he said in a statement on Twitter on Wednesday evening.

"It's a huge vote of confidence in the UK's chemicals and processing industry, which is pioneering innovation in clean, green technology," he added.

SABIC confirmed the investment in a statement to Reuters and said its total investment in the UK is around 1 billion pounds.

The company said the investment would include strengthening operations at Teesside and enabling its chemical cracker transformation.

"This will reduce its carbon footprint by up to 60 per cent in phase one, making it one of the world’s lowest carbon-emitting crackers," it added.

The announcement comes as Britain is set to host the COP26 UN climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland.

Earlier on Wednesday, Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih said Saudi Arabia and Britain had signed a memorandum of understanding to promote bilateral investment flows. — SG/SPA