The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has issued 68 new industrial licenses in November with an investment volume of up to SR735 million. The total number of existing factories in Saudi Arabia till the end of November 2021 reached 10,253 industrial facilities. A report issued by the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information showed that the biggest share of the new industrial licenses was for the food products industries with 14 licenses followed by chemicals with 9 licenses. While Riyadh accounted for the biggest number of new licenses according to the geographical distribution with 24 and then the Eastern Region with 17. The report revealed that small factories accounted for 89 percent of the new industrial licenses for November and medium industrial factories constituted 8.7 percent, while national factories accounted for 90 percent of the total new factories and the share of foreign investments stood at 5 percent of these licenses. As for the industrial facilities that started production in November, the report showed that production commenced in 64 factories, including 36 in Riyadh and Makkah with 14 factories. In terms of the activities of the newly operational factories, the mining sector came first with 10 factories followed by food products with 8. The report also showed that the investment volume in factories that started operation in November is estimated at SR1.6 billion, where small factories accounted for the biggest share with over 70 percent, followed by medium facilities with 26%, where the share of national investments stood at 70 percent and the volume of foreign investments reached 10 percent. The report also said that the industrial sector in November provided 2,383 jobs, and 3,930 foreign employees left the sector in the same month. – SG
