Real Estate - Agencies
The manufacturing sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries has achieved remarkable growth over the past two decades, thanks to the attention and support the industrial sector receives from GCC member states, given the role it plays in achieving these countries” strategic and economic goals. These countries” efforts to support industrial development have focused on several key areas, including providing the necessary infrastructure and establishing industrial cities, as well as creating development funds and banks, in addition to offering a number of other industrial incentives. The Kingdom Ranked First The Kingdom ranked first in terms of investment volume at 51.3 %, followed by Qatar in second place at 24.4 %, while the UAE ranked third at 9.6 %, Oman ranked fourth with 7.2 %, followed by Kuwait in fifth place with 4.4 %, and Bahrain in sixth place with 3.1 %. The Kingdom also ranked first in the number of employees at 51.1 %, followed by the UAE in second place at 24.4 %, while Kuwait ranked third at 6.3 %, Oman ranked fourth with 5.3 %, followed by Qatar in fifth place with 5.1 %, and Bahrain in sixth place with 4.4 %. Small and medium-sized industries and the public sector played a fundamental role in building and expanding the Gulf’s industrial base by contributing to the establishment of numerous industrial complexes characterized by high capital intensity and large production capacities, Therefore, these efforts have focused on utilizing local resources, namely hydrocarbon wealth, which constitutes a comparative advantage in the manufacturing process (such as petrochemicals, chemical fertilizers, iron and steel, aluminum, and flour mills), while the private sector’s industrialization efforts have focused on establishing forward-looking small and medium-sized industries, with the aim of first substituting imports and then exporting surpluses to neighboring and foreign markets. Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al-Aqil, Secretary-General of the “Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting” (GOIC), revealed that, given the structure of the manufacturing sector in the GCC countries, the number of operating factories increased from 12,317 in 2008 to 15,165 in 2012, with a five-year cumulative growth rate of 5.2 %. The volume of investments during this period rose from 149,578 million U.S. dollars to 336,138 million U.S. dollars, with a cumulative growth rate of 22.4 %, and the number of employees increased during the same period from 97,219 to 1,340,014, with a cumulative growth rate of 8.4 % for the same period. Manufacturing Industries: According to the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Division IV, manufacturing activities were classified as follows: Manufacture of food products, beverages, and tobacco; manufacture of textiles, clothing, leather, and related products; manufacture of wood, wood products, and cork (excluding furniture); and manufacture of straw and plaiting materials, paper and paper products; printing and reproduction of recorded media; coke and refined petroleum products; chemical substances and products; pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical chemicals, and medicinal plant products; rubber and plastic products, other non-metallic mineral products (non-metallic products), basic metal industries, and metal products (excluding machinery and equipment). In addition to computers, electronic and optical products, electrical equipment, machinery and equipment not classified elsewhere, motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers, other transportation equipment, the furniture industry, other products not classified elsewhere, and the repair, maintenance, and installation of machinery and equipment. Growth in the Number of Factories: The Kingdom ranked first in the number of factories with a share of 39.3 %, while the UAE ranked second with a share of 36.3 %, and the Sultanate of Oman ranked third with a share of 9.9 %, Bahrain ranked fourth with 5.2 %, followed by Qatar in fifth place with 4.7 %, and Kuwait in sixth place with 4.6 %.