A report released by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources revealed that the volume of investments in new industrial licenses for the month of September reached 3.104 billion riyals, with small enterprises accounting for the majority of new industrial licenses issued in September at 91.14%, followed by medium-sized enterprises at 5.06%, while national factories accounted for the largest share of total licenses issued by investment type at 84.81%, followed by joint venture and foreign enterprises, each with an equal share of 7.59%.
Industrial Licenses in September
The ministry clarified that it issued 79 new industrial licenses during the month of September, distributed according to investment type and facility size across various industrial activities, led by the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products with 14 licenses, followed by the manufacture of rubber and plastic products with 13 licenses, the manufacture of fabricated metal products, excluding machinery and equipment, with 11 licenses; the manufacture of food products with 10 licenses; and the manufacture of paper and paper products with 7 licenses.
A report issued by the Ministry’s National Center for Industrial and Mining Information revealed that the total number of industrial licenses issued by the Ministry from the beginning of this year through the end of September reached 725, while the number of existing factories in the Kingdom as of the end of the same month reached 10,728, with a total investment volume of 1.370 trillion.
The report stated that 68 factories began production last September, with an investment volume of 3.463 billion riyals, led by food factories with 16 facilities, followed by non-metallic minerals with 11 factories, base metals with 6 factories, and rubber, plastics, ferroalloys, chemicals, and electrical industries with 5 factories each, while domestic factories accounted for the largest share of total production capacity among those that began production at 83,82%, followed by foreign factories at 11,76%, and then joint ventures at 4,41%.
The report indicated that the new licenses were distributed across 12 administrative regions, led by the Riyadh region with 28 licenses, followed by the Eastern Province with 15 licenses, the Makkah region with 10 licenses, the Madinah region with 9 licenses, the Qassim region with 8 licenses, and the Asir region with 3 licenses, while the regions of Jazan, Hail, Al-Baha, the Northern Border, Najran, and Al-Jawf each recorded one license.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, through the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, publishes monthly reports on key industrial indicators that illustrate the nature of industrial activity in the Kingdom, as well as revealing the extent of change the sector is experiencing in terms of new industrial investments and the number of jobs the sector provides.
