A Memorandum of Understanding was signed yesterday between National Industrial Cluster Development Program (NICDP) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) for the feasibility study of an industrial project to produce vehicles and parts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The memorandum was signed by Saudi Minister of State and Cabinet's Member Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf on behalf of Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry, Mineral Resources, and Chairman of NICDP's Board of Directors Engineer Khalid Al-Falih, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Toyota Takeshi Uchiyamada in Tokyo today on the sidelines of the visit being paid by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Japan. Signing this MOU is part of NICDP's plans for the development of a globally competitive automotive industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and confirming the intent of both parties to continue with the evaluation of the project as part of the Kingdom's 2030 vision. The study would take into account the evaluation of development of a local supply base using materials produced by major Saudi companies like Sabic, Maaden, Petro Rabigh, and other major industrial companies in the Kingdom. It would also be looking into the development and attraction of talented Saudi workforce and put in place the adequate training programs. Abdul Latif Jameel as a local distributor for Toyota will be also taking part in the joint feasibility study. Toyota remains the leader in Saudi and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) car markets with more than 500,000 units sold in GCC in 2016.
