RIYADH — The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has revealed on Sunday that foreign or joint capital investments represent about 39 percent of the total investments in the industrial sector in the Kingdom. It also revealed that the total number of existing and under construction factories until the end of last May reached 15 percent. The ministry said that these percentages confirm Saudi Arabia's ability to attract quality investments in various economic activities. As for the factories with foreign investment in Saudi Arabia, the ministry stated that their number reached 839 factories by the end of May 2022, representing approximately 8 percent of the total number of factories, with investments estimated at more than SR65 billion. The number of joint venture factories in Saudi Arabia reached about 787 factories, which constitute 7 percent of the total factories, with investments estimated at more than SR464 billion. While the number of national factories reached 9,049, constituting 85 percent of the total number of factories, with an estimated investment volume of SR832 billion. Foreign investments in the Kingdom were concentrated in several major industrial activities, the ministry said, noting that the first of these is the manufacture of formed metal products, which reached 157 factories. While the factories specialized in the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products reached 99 factories, followed by the activity of manufacturing rubber and plastic products with 87 factories. As for the activity of manufacturing chemicals and chemical products, the number of factories working in this sector has reached 71 factories, while the activity of the food products industry is 62 factories. The ministry said that foreign investments in the activity of making base metals amounted to 60 factories, while factories that specialize in manufacturing machinery and equipment account for 55 factories. The activity of furniture-making reached 53 factories, then the activity of manufacturing electrical equipment was recorded with 45 factories, and the activity of transformative industries amounted to 28 factories. Small factories constitute the largest percentage of the total foreign investment in the sector by about 54 percent, the ministry said, adding that medium factories constitute 39 percent of the sector, while large factories have reached 7 percent. As for the regions that have the largest percentage of factories in Saudi Arabia, the ministry noted that the Riyadh region has the highest proportion of the total number of foreign factories in the Kingdom with 410 factories, followed by 196 factories in the Makkah region, and then the Eastern Province (Al-Sharqiyah) with 170 factories.
