Industry and Mineral Resources

The Kingdom witnessed a dynamic industrial development process 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 integrated system in the Kingdom. Also, the Kingdom 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 leading national industrial companies. Through the national strategy for industry and in partnership with the private sector, The Kingdom is moving towards becoming a leading industrial power that contributes to securing global supply chains and exporting high-tech products to the world

The Kingdom 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, and the development of promising and competitive industries (military industries, automobile industry, pharmaceutical, and food industry), thus building a prosperous future. One of the most important goals of the National Industry Development Program is the transformation of the Kingdom into a leading industrial country and a global platform for logistics services.

Kingdom's industrial vision

Saudi Arabia defined its vision towards the industrial sector and announced several targets, the foremost of which is achieving 84% growth for the non-oil sectors and 55% for the interest of local content in manufacturing, in addition to providing 230,000 job opportunities.

The institutional strategy of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources

The  Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources is taking confident and steady steps toward an essential vision for the Kingdom to become a center for attracting qualitative investments in the industrial and mining sector.

In addition, it works towards achieving a primary mission of leading the industry and mining system according to a practical governance framework that supports the competitive capabilities of partners, efficient use of resources, maximizing benefits management, providing an attractive environment for investments, and creating national services and products based on creativity and innovation, to promote sustainable development.

Pillars of the strategy of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources

A set of main objectives were developed that unite efforts towards achieving them in the sector according to carefully studied strategies, as it is a system built with the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources to achieve the highest benefit in the field while achieving the goals of Vision 2030 in the field of industry and for the benefit of the country's economy, and it was one of the most important goals Ministry:

Capacity development and organizational structure

  • Institutional capacity development.
  • Assigning operational roles.
  • Forming flexible work teams.

Cooperation with all aspects of the industry and mining system

  • Framing the roles and tasks of the system agencies.
  • Respond and adapt to partner requirements.
  • Implementation of the work model of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and its partners.

Culture and change management culture

  • Establishing constructive behavioral practices.
  • Stimulating awareness, desire for change, and influential work culture.

Investor centricity

  • Enhancing the attractiveness of the investment environment in the industry and mining sector.
  • Expanding business horizons with our partners.
  • Providing competitive services to investors.

Digital transformation

  • Simplify the investor journey.
  • Developing internal procedures and transforming them digitally.
  • Make decisions based on data.

Sector empowerment

  • Focusing work on the main empowerment axes.
  • Activating work models and joint coordination.

Initiatives of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources is working on several initiatives to achieve added value, maximize and diversify the economic impact, create an attractive investment environment in the industrial and mining sectors, and provide a mature infrastructure that attracts qualitative investments.

Industrial sector

The industry in the Kingdom has a long successful history. It created by legacy that extends for many decades, starting with the stage that coincided with the discovery of oil, which is considered the central pillar upon which the modern industry in the Kingdom is based, where the development process in the industrial sector began its first steps after the discovery of oil and its export in Commercial quantities , thanks to oil revenues and their role in improving and directing economic conditions.

And then comes the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which draws a road map to develop the national economy and diversify and develop sources of income. The industry is one of the most critical economic tributaries in this vision.

Initiatives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the industrial sector

Intending to localize promising industries, the country was keen to create an intelligent and advanced environment for collecting, analyzing, and forecasting data on the industrial sector  to support decision-makers, investors, and business developers by establishing a platform that collects information and industrial and mining business intelligence to provide comprehensive statistics, specialized research reports, and statistical analysts and economists. 

And economists, which ensures addressing any expected crises by identifying industrial problems and available opportunities and improving the industry in the Kingdom based on the results of research and studies, in addition to providing comprehensive statistics, specialized research reports, advanced analyzes, and consultations to support investors and decision makers and enhance national industrial strategic planning. The country also provides artificial intelligence services to industrial fields with nine services. (read more)

The Ministry of Industry has sought to establish a database and platform to analyze and audit products linked to each other according to the supply chain, in addition to harmonizing product coding and specifications, as well as procedures for qualifying suppliers from factories in companies, with the aim of developing local supply chains, which resulted in a set of Outputs that quickly proved their accuracy and efficiency, starting with the study of local supply chains and the appropriate coding mechanism for them, in addition to the mechanism for harmonizing specifications and qualification procedures, and even the accuracy of data related to the field survey information for factories.

In an effort to develop the digital economy and enable the fourth industrial revolution, to build a database for industrial facilities and products, collecting industrial data from relevant authorities, analyze their quality, and classify them according to international standards, The Ministry has established and operated the National Center for Industrialization and Advanced Production and operated it for three years, based on a constructive strategy that supports transparency and integration of the industrial system, promotes financial self-sustainability, and ensures human creativity and efficiency. (read more).

Initiatives that enriched the industrial sector

Industrial investment and local industry development

To enhance industrial investment opportunities and develop the local industry while raising the level of its performance, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources worked to establish the Industrial Fund in order to contribute to the formation of industrial sectors, the development of competitive institutions and the support of strategic initiatives.
The Industrial Fund continues its pioneering activity in developing the local industrial sector and keeping abreast of developments through integration with government agencies and expanding the scope of its support to include several promising sectors in the fields of industry, energy, mining, and logistics.

The Industrial Fund works effectively to provide financial and advisory support and provide innovative solutions for the growth and development of the local industry and raise the level of its performance to achieve several strategic goals, Starting with developing the added values of the local economy and supporting the domestic product while promoting non-oil exports and achieving integration between the industrial sector and other sectors. This is in addition to raising the rate of participation of Saudi competencies in the sector and achieving optimal utilization of local raw materials, attracting foreign capital and transferring and localizing technology.

Developing industrial lands and integrated infrastructure

The Ministry was keen to establish an integrated program to develop and manage distinguished industrial cities and technical zones in line with national priorities and in partnership 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 so far. 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. One thousand Saudi employees and 16,825 thousand Saudi female employees.

National Center for Industrial Development

To develop industrial clusters and lead development operations in five different sectors characterized by rapid growth and aimed at exporting abroad, namely: the automotive sector, minerals, and mining operations, water desalination and energy spare parts, chemicals and pharmaceutical industries, and biotechnology, the Ministry established the National Center for Industrial Development to become The first reference and thought leader for the industrial sector that supports sustainable development and economic and technical leadership in the Kingdom, as the center 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.

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 the Kingdom. 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 the Kingdom.
  • 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 the Kingdom 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.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiatives in the mining sector:

The state 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, the state 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, in addition to increasing the number of small national companies and improving customer satisfaction. (read more).

Other initiatives that enriched the mining sector:

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, The Kingdom of 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.

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