The volume of investments made by Saudi Arabia in GCC factories amounted to $92 billion out of a total of $150 billion until 2008. The number of factories established in the Kingdom reached 4.437 with a total workforce exceeding 472,000. According to a latest report published by the Doha based Gulf Industrial Investments Organization, Saudi Arabia's investments in the chemical and plastic industries reached $49.9 billion from the $81.9 billion invested in this sector in the six GCC states. Investments in construction materials come second at $18.7 billion of which the Kingdom's stake is $12.8 billion. Construction materials were followed by mining industries with total investments of $13.2 billion and basic mining industries come in the fourth position with $17 billion of which the Kingdom's stake is $7.2 billion. More than $7.7 billion has been invested in the Kingdom's food, soft drinks and tobacco industries from a total of $11.3 billion and this was followed by paper industries with a total investment of $3.3 billon. Saudi Arabia's investments in the textiles, garments and leather industries amounted to $1.4 billion from a total of $2.1 billion and they were followed by investments in the wood and transformation industries. According to the latest figures, there are a total of 12,316 factories in the GCC states with a volume of investments worth $150 billion. More than 982,000 people are working in these factories. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco renewed its commitment to long-term investment plans in oil and gas during the global financial crisis, which has dampened demand for sources of energy. “Despite the difficulty in the current global economic climate and ... challenges facing the energy sector, the Kingdom will continue its long-term investments to expand oil and gas sectors,” Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih said in a statement. Aramco will soon sign a “memorandum of understanding” with Japan's Sumitomo Chemical to develop a second phase of the PetroRabigh complex, Falih said. He also cited Aramco's plan to spend 100 billion riyals ($26.67 billion) in a petrochemicals complex in partnership with Dow Chemical.
