Arab News, Monday, May 22, 2023 | Thul-Qidah 2, 1444
Foreign, joint investments in Saudi industrial sector reach $144bn
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia is rapidly expanding its industrial sector with foreign and joint
investments totaling more than SR542 billion ($144 billion), as the Kingdom
continues to diversify its economy.
This value represents 37 percent of the total
investment seen in the industrial sector, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The number of factories with foreign investment in
the Kingdom has reached 930, accounting for 9 percent of the total number of
factories, the report added.
Furthermore, the number of factories with joint
investments reached 924, representing 8 percent of the overall factories with
investments totaling more than SR470 billion.
The total number of factories in the Kingdom’s
industrial sector as of May 2023 reached 10,910 with investments amounting to
more than SR1.45 trillion.
Earlier this month, Saudi Minister of Industry and
Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef said the Kingdom will offer 50 investment
opportunities worth over $25 billion in the machinery and equipment sector as
part of the National Industrial Strategy.
In October last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman launched the National Industrial Strategy, which aims to boost the
sector’s growth and increase the number of factories to approximately 36,000 by
2035.
The main objectives of this strategy are to
increase the Kingdom’s industrial base, minimize imports by up to 50 percent,
and work on exporting goods to regional and international markets.
In line with the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030,
the plan also intends to create an industrial economy that draws investment and
helps achieve economic diversification by growing the domestic economy and
non-oil exports.
According to the ministry’s recent bulletin
released earlier this month, the number of factories reached 10,518 in 2022, up
from 8,499 operational units recorded a year earlier.
It also said that licenses were issued to 248
industrial units and 150 factories with an investment volume of SR2.2 billion
were operational in the fourth quarter of 2022.