Official data issued by the Saudi authorities revealed a rise in industrial investment in the Kingdom, confirming the successful endeavor to overcome the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced that 261 industrial facilities started their operations within the Kingdom in March, with an investment volume of more than 5.8 billion riyals ($1.5 billion).
A report by the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources revealed that national investments accounted for 89 percent of the work of the new factories, foreign investments recorded about 8 percent, while 3 percent of factories were established with joint capital.
The report added that small industrial establishments represented 74 percent of the factories that initiated production last March. Non-ferrous metals ranked first in the distribution of the factories by nature of activity, followed by the food industry sector.
As per the distribution by region, the Eastern Province ranked first with 73 new factories, followed by the Riyadh Region with 61 factories, and the Makkah Al Mukarramah with 47 factories, according to the report.
It added that the month of March alone saw the issuance of 109 new industrial licenses in the Kingdom, with an investment volume exceeding 2.5 billion riyals.
Small enterprises accounted for the largest share of the new industrial licenses with 91 licenses, while the other 18 licenses were given to medium enterprises.
Meanwhile, the Royal Commission in Yanbu signed an investment agreement to establish a factory specialized in the production of ceramics on an area of 400,000 square meters, with an investment value of 375 million riyals (100 million dollars), which is expected to provide 367 job opportunities.
The project will contribute to the domestic product by exploiting raw materials and natural resources, and is expected to raise the Kingdom’s global ranking among the ceramic-manufacturing countries.
The authority also signed another investment agreement, to establish a factory specialized in the production of medical products on an area of 15,000 square meters, with an investment value of 10 million riyals (2.6 million dollars). The project is expected to generate 30 job opportunities.
