The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 90 new industrial licenses in June covering five industrial activities. Non-metallic minerals industry came on top with 18 licenses while food manufacturing and metal products industries came second and third with 14 and 12 licenses respectively. Nine licenses were issued for the manufacture of rubber and plastics products, while seven were issued for the manufacture of chemical products. According to a report released by the Ministry's National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, the total number of industrial licenses issued by the Ministry since the beginning of this year is 501, while the number of existing and under-construction factories in the Kingdom as of the end of the same month was 10,675 Also, the total volume of investments for these factories is worth of 1.361 trillion riyals, with non-metallic metal factories accounting for more than 2,054 plants, rubber and plastics factories accounting for 1,348, and food factories accounting for approximately 1,280 plants. The volume of investments in June exceeded 2 billion riyals, the report states, with small businesses acquiring the vast majority of new industrial licenses (83.33%) during the period. The next two largest groups were those with foreign investment (6.67%) and co-investment (5.56%), followed by medium-sized enterprises (14.44%) and micro-sized businesses (2.22%). National factories accounted for new licenses based on the type of investment at 87.78%, followed by foreign investments at 6.67% and joint-venture investments at 5.56%. The National Center for Industrial and Mining Information reports that 101 factories began their operations in June with an investment of 2.6 billion riyals, with non-metallic metal factories leading the way with 21 factories, followed by food factories 17. The rubber and plastics factories accounted for 14, followed by chemical factories at 12 and fabricated metal factories at 10. In addition, national factories made up 93.07% of all factories that began operations in June. Foreign factories came second with 3.96%, and co-investment factories came third with 2.97%. The new industrial licenses, the report pointed out, were distributed among 11 administrative regions, with the Riyadh region leading the way with 32 licenses, followed by the Eastern Province with 26 licenses and the Makkah region with 14. With 26 factories, the Riyadh region had the most factories starting production, followed by the Eastern Province with 24 factories and the Qassim region with 14. According to the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, the industry sector added 5,706 jobs in June, with 3,245 going to Saudi nationals and 2,461 going to foreigners. Through the National Center, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources publishes the most significant industrial indicators on a monthly basis that show the type of industrial activity that takes place in the Kingdom, the degree to which new industrial investments have changed, and the number of jobs that are generated by the sector. — SG
