Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef stressed that the ministry seeks to attract investments worth USD32 billion in the mining and mineral sector through nine new projects aiming to support the export of mineral products to local and international markets, where the ministry is currently studying 145 applications to receive exploration licenses by foreign companies. He noted that the projects that are currently being implemented, as part of the targeted investments, include a factory for steel plates with an investment exceeding USD4 billion, which aims to provide factories for building ships at King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex in Ras Al-Khair; and a factory for inputs of electric vehicle batteries with a value of USD2 billion; in addition to other projects to produce minerals, such as aluminum and steel plates, and a refinery for copper and zinc, which is expected to witness an increasing demand locally thanks to manufacturing trends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Al-Khorayef pointed out that these investments are part of the Kingdom Vision 2030 in cooperation with the Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Energy that seeks to make the mining sector the third pillar for the national industry as per the targets of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), noting that these schemes will provide more than 14,500 job opportunities.
