Industry Ministry issues 158 industrial licenses worth SAR 11.5B in October

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 158 new industrial licenses in October, at a total investment value of SAR 11.5 billion.

The new licenses covered five industrial activities, the majority of which (or 31 licenses) were in the food production field, followed by the manufacturing of non-metallic mineral products (21), then the manufacturing of casting metals (17), the manufacturing of electrical equipment and manufacturing of rubber and plastics with 11 licenses each, the ministry added, in a report.

Small-sized enterprises received most of the new licenses in October, accounting for 83.54% of the total. Medium- and micro-sized enterprises followed with 12.03% and 3.80%, respectively.

Meanwhile, by investment type, national factories dominated 77.85% of the new licenses, followed by joint investments (11.39%), then foreign establishments (10.76%).

The report also showed that 113 factories started actual production in the same month, with total investments of SAR 12.24 billion. Non-metallic minerals topped with 27 factories. Food production took the second place (19), followed by rubber and plastics (12), casting of metals (9) and chemical factories (9).

National factories comprised 74.34% of the total factories that started production in October, followed by foreign factories and joint-investment plants at 16.81% and 8.85%, respectively.

The total number of industrial licenses issued by the ministry from January-October stood at 1,127. The number of existing and under-construction factories by the end of October reached 11,388, with total investments amounting to SAR 1.509 trillion, the report added.

Source : Argaam