Industry and Mineral Resources

Saudi Arabia witnessed a dynamic development process in the industrial and mining sector over the past decades, driven by government empowerment. The development of the industrial sector began with the discovery of oil, which became a mainstay in expanding the industrial system in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Saudi Arabia has all the capabilities that enable it to reach a competitive and sustainable industrial economy, starting with its prominent geographical location, rich natural resources, in addition to the leading national industrial companies.

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Industrial Sector

Saudi Arabia is proceeding at a continuous and escalating pace towards achieving more goals and ambitions in the industrial sector, such as:

Expansion in industries related to oil and gas

The development of promising and competitive industries (military industries, automobile industry, pharmaceutical, and food industry).

Thus building a prosperous future, realizing one of the most important goals of the National Industry Development Program, which is the transformation of Saudi Arabia into a leading industrial country and a global platform for logistics services.

The Vision

Saudi Arabia outlined its industrial vision and declared numerous aims, the most important of which is to achieve 84% growth in non-oil industries and 55% interest in local content in manufacturing, in addition to offering 230,000 job opportunities.

Industrial Fund

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources worked to establish the Industrial Fund to contribute to the formation of industrial sectors, the development of competitive institutions, and the support of strategic initiatives in order to improve industrial investment opportunities and develop the local industry.

The Industrial Fund works effectively to provide financial and advisory support, as well as innovative solutions, for the growth and development of local industry, to achieve several strategic goals, beginning with promoting non-oil exports and achieving integration between the industrial sector and other sectors. This is in addition to increasing Saudi competencies' participation in the industry, achieving optimal exploitation of local raw materials, attracting foreign investments, and transferring and localizing technology.

National Center for Industrial Development

The Ministry of Industry established the National Center for Industrial Development to: -

Develop industrial clusters;

Lead development operations in five different sectors characterized by rapid growth.

The National Center for Industrial Development aimed at exporting abroad, namely in the following sectors:

Automotive and its parts.

Minerals and mining operations.

Chemicals.

Water desalination and energy.

Pharmaceutical industries and biotechnology.

The Ministry hereby aims to become the first reference and thought leader for the industrial sector that supports sustainable development and economic and technical leadership in the Saudi Arabia. The National Center for Industrial Development aims to employ its technical expertise, enable sustainable national industrial development, and promote industrial investment, through business development, setting priorities, recommending effective policies, while supporting and coordinating industrial initiatives, in line with other government agencies and partners with the private sector.

Industrial Cities and Integrated Infrastructure

The Ministry was keen to establish an integrated program to develop and manage distinguished industrial cities and technical zones aligned with national priorities and partnerships with the public and private sectors. Therefore, it established the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON).

MODON has been concerned with developing industrial lands and integrated infrastructure since its establishment in 2001; it supervises 36 existing and under-development industrial cities across the kingdom, in addition to supervising private industrial complexes and cities. It has also achieved remarkable achievements in raising the areas of developed industrial lands to more than 200 million square meters. In contrast, the existing industrial cities include more than 4 thousand factories between producer, existing, under construction, and establishment, and 6,587 industrial, investment, service, and logistical contracts, in which 517,242 employees work, including 185,840 Saudi employees and 16,825 Saudi female employees. The Ministry also initiated Green Cities Initiative, aimed at enabling environmental sustainability and achieving the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative, fostering further local and international partnerships to create an enabling investment environment and ensure the sustainability of industrial and national businesses in Saudi Arabia.

Industrial Sector Initiatives

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources is working on a number of initiatives to add value, maximize and diversify economic impact, create an appealing investment environment in the industrial and mining sectors, and provide a competent infrastructure that attracts quality investments.

In order to localize promising industries, Saudi Arabia sought to establish an intelligent and advanced environment for collecting, analyzing, and forecasting data on the industrial sector in order to assist decision-makers, investors, and business developers. The establishment of a platform that collects information and industrial and mining business intelligence shall help provide comprehensive statistics, specialized research reports, and dashboards by data scientists, and statistical and economic analysts, which ensures addressing expected crises, by identifying industrial problems, and available opportunities, to improve the industry in the Kingdom based on the results of research and studies, in addition to providing comprehensive statistics, specialized research reports, advanced analyses, and supportive consultations for investors and decision-makers; to enhance national industrial strategic planning. Saudi Arabia also provides artificial intelligence servicesartificial intelligence services for industrial fields with 9 services. (Read more)

The Ministry also sought to establish a database and platform for analyzing and auditing products linked to each other along the supply chain, as well as harmonizing product coding and specifications (codification), as well as

procedures for qualifying suppliers from factories in companies, with the goal of developing local supply chains.

This work has resulted in a series of outcomes that have proven to be accurate and effective, starting with the study of local supply chains, identifying suitable coding mechanisms, aligning specifications and qualification procedures, and ensuring the accuracy of field survey data for factories.

In pursuit of growing the digital economy and enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution to build a database for industrial facilities and products, the Ministry established and operated the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information. This Center operated for three years based on a constructive strategy that supports transparency and integration with the industrial system, enhancing financial sustainability and ensuring innovation and human efficiency. (Read more).

Other industrial sector Initiatives:

Non-Profit Sector Initiative

Establishing and Operating the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Production

Consolidating and Acquiring Manufacturing Technology

The Competitiveness Program for Improving Energy Price

Development of Mechanisms, Standards and Procedures of Custom Exemption for the Industrial Sector

Combat Unfair Competition in International Trade

Industrial Clusters Standards

Trade Policy for Manufacturing

Improvement Regulations and the Legislative Environment of the Industrial Sector

Initiative of Industry Sustainability

Industrial Capacity Development Center

Digital Services Platform of the Industrial Investor’s Journey.

The Cost Competitiveness of National Building

The Industrial Council

Establishing and operating the National Center for Industrial Information

Mining sector

National Geological Database:

The national geological database (the Saudi Geological Survey) constitutes the cornerstone of the mineral resources and mining information management system in Saudi Arabia. It evaluates mineral resources of various types and locations, in addition to data on exploration activities, geological prospecting, and drilling data available for various projects in the country. The National Geological Database aims to:

Unifying data and information on mineral and mining resources in Saudi Arabia

Development and governance of the National Geological Database Infrastructure

Developing the mining sector and contributing to increasing the country's GDP from its outputs

Raising investment expectations and returns in the field of mining in Saudi Arabia through the integration of the national geological database with the relevant authorities in the country

Providing documented and accurate information to government and private agencies through a unified electronic portal that contributes to decision-making

Saudi Arabia's Initiatives in the Mining Sector:

Saudi Arabia seeks to form an institutional structure for non-profit organizations in the sector, in addition to empowering and governing these organizations and spreading a culture of volunteering and social responsibility with the aim of developing the non-profit sector, as part of the national transformation programs, in turn, will contribute to the gross domestic product and employment, as the non-profit sector is a complementary and integrated sector with The government and private sectors. Accordingly, Saudi Arabia provides several services that work to achieve this trend, such as issuing licenses to establish non-profit organizations, following up and supervising the work of those organizations, in addition to providing support and empowerment while creating volunteer opportunities and offering social responsibility initiatives. With the aim of maximizing and benefiting from the value achieved from the mining sector, the ministry has established an exploration incubator that works to increase the rates of spending on exploration work, support the Saudi geological database with more accurate information, and increase the number of small national companies and improving customer satisfaction. (read more).

Other Initiatives that Enriched the Mining Sector:

Launching technical and financial guidelines for obtaining mining licenses

Governance and digitization of government lands

Launching technical guidelines for the mining industriesl

Developing the building materials licensing sector

Develop governance and business models for the mining sector and build the necessary capabilities

Saudi Mining Services Company

Approving and implementing the comprehensive strategy for the mining sector

Amending the mining investment system and the organizing regulations.

Mining platform development.

Developing the beneficiary experience and transparency in the mining sector.

Promote investment in the mining sector.

Studying the impact of energy and water on the mining sector.

Establishment of a Saudi professional body for mining.

Preparing and operating a technical support team to implement the strategy

Create a fund to support the mining sector.

Developing national cadres and forces in the field of mining.

Launching technical guidelines for the optimal use of mineral resources in the new project.

Support mining sector requirements for infrastructure and commercial regulations .

Government Digital Transformation

With the rapid development in the world of technology and the trend of governments and institutions towards digitization in all their services, Saudi Arabia was keen to adopt the concept of digital government transformation by replacing traditional operations with digital ones and developing plans and strategies to ensure the achievement of its goals with quality and efficiency. The industrial and mining investor's digital journey to becoming a more accessible and more flexible experience through the Ebtda platform.