The the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 158 new industrial licenses in October 2023, distributed across five industrial sectors, led by food manufacturing with 31 licenses, followed by other non-metallic mineral products with 21 licenses, then fabricated metal products (excluding machinery and equipment) with 17 licenses, followed by the manufacture of electrical equipment and rubber and plastic products, with 11 licenses each.
1,127 new licenses issued last year, 2023
The report issued by the Ministry’s National Center for Industrial and Mining Information indicated that the total number of industrial licenses issued by the Ministry from the beginning of 2023 through the end of last October was 1,127, while the number of existing and under-construction factories in the Kingdom as of the end of the same month reached 11,388, with a total investment of 1.509 trillion riyals.
Small enterprises account for most of the new licenses
It reported that the investment volume for new licenses in October reached 11.5 billion riyals, and small enterprises, based on enterprise size, accounted for the majority of new industrial licenses during the same month at a rate of 83.54%, followed by medium-sized enterprises at 12.03%, then micro-enterprises at 3.80%, and large enterprises at 0.63%, while national factories accounted for the largest share of total licenses issued by investment type, at 77.85%, followed by joint-venture enterprises at 11.39% and foreign enterprises at 10.76%. A report by the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information indicated that 113 factories began production last October, with a total investment of 12.237 million riyals. Non-metallic mineral factories led the way with 27 factories, followed by food factories with 19, then rubber and plastics factories with 12, and finally ferrous metal and chemical factories with 9 each, while domestic factories accounted for 74.34% of the total factories that began production, broken down by investment type, followed by foreign-invested factories at 16.81%, and joint-venture factories at 8.85%.
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, in addition to revealing the extent of change the sector is experiencing in terms of new industrial investments, and the number of factories that have begun production.
