Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has issued 68 new industrial licenses during November with an investment volume of up to $196 million, an increase of around 14 percent in license issuance compared to October.
According to a report from the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, the food products industries secured 14 industrial licenses which marks the biggest share in November, followed by chemicals with 9 licenses.
While Riyadh accounted for the biggest number of new licenses according to the geographical distribution with 24, then the Eastern Region with 17. As of the end of November, the total number of existing factories in Saudi Arabia reached 10,253.
Further, the report showed 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 last month, the report showed that production commenced in 64 factories, including 36 in Riyadh and 14 in Makkah. 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 revealed that the investment volume in factories that started operation in November is estimated at $430 million, where small factories accounted for the biggest share with over 70 percent, followed by medium facilities with 26 percent. The share of national investments stood at 70 percent and the volume of foreign investments reached 10 percent.
