40 Billion Riyals Funding For the National Industrial Strategy Programs

    The estimated cost of funding for the strategic programs of the national industrial strategy is (40) billion riyals until 1441H, said the people preparing the projects draft.

The national strategy is based on two elements: creativity, and innovation. Its direction is moving towards industries with technical content. This includes a number of important programs and initiatives to the industrial clusters, and the promotion of industrial small and medium sized businesses, building system innovation, development and manpower, skills and industrial infrastructure systems.

"Riyadh" newspaper reviews the most important features of the strategy and its main features goals.  The review starts with the importance of industry for growth and development through sustainable development in the Kingdom. It establishes the need for production of high technologies, as well as diversifying the Saudi economy in order to achieve stability.  This will be attained by the positive linkage of factories, universities, training centers, scientific research and technical innovation along with facilitating the reach to global markets, through benefiting from the Kingdom’s strategic location in the world.

The strategic goal is to lift the industrial contribution of the GDP to (20%) by 1441H and to reach a privileged position in the industrial map. This will achieved through targeting several specific objectives working on the most important variables affecting the industrial performance, which is increasing the industrial added value Three times. This is achieved through an industrial compound rate of value adding that reaches (8%) annually. Moreover, it is expected that the programs carried by the strategy will stimulate the rates of creating new companies to reach (15%). And the rates of establishing medium and small companies numbers that override these averages. Also amongst the targets is to double the proportion of factories with a technical base from 30% to 60% of total industrial production. To achieve this, the strategy aims to double industrial exports from 18% to 35% of total exports, and also to double the proportion of national employment in industry from15% to 30% and increase the number five-fold.

The resources strategy and financing mechanisms will be implemented through what the state allocates for implementation. Work will also be done on procedures that will attract investment in the programs, depending on the nature of the investment funds and development in the Kingdom as well as banks and investment companies and venture capital institutions.  Also amongst the options is the contribution of international companies within the framework agreements in Kingdom with other nations. On the other hand, the state provides the land necessary to establish the program projects.

For its part, the Economy and Energy Committee in the Shura Council recommended the approval on the national industrial strategy draft until 1441. The committee also recommended the timeframe for execution within 180 days of the adoption of the strategy. Furthermore, the committee called for a separation of the Industrial activities and to place them in a separate Ministry for Industry.