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British-Saudi Sustainable Forum Focuses on Energy, Infrastructure Investments in Saudi Arabia

The summit highlighted the investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s five largest projects: NEOM, Qiddiya, the Red Sea Project, Roshen, and Diriyah. (SPA)
The summit highlighted the investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s five largest projects: NEOM, Qiddiya, the Red Sea Project, Roshen, and Diriyah. (SPA)
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British-Saudi Sustainable Forum Focuses on Energy, Infrastructure Investments in Saudi Arabia

The summit highlighted the investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s five largest projects: NEOM, Qiddiya, the Red Sea Project, Roshen, and Diriyah. (SPA)
The summit highlighted the investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s five largest projects: NEOM, Qiddiya, the Red Sea Project, Roshen, and Diriyah. (SPA)

British investors at the British-Saudi Sustainable Infrastructure Summit in London expressed on Monday keen interest in investing in the renewable energy sector and sustainable infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Their interests align with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 focus on leveraging renewable and green energy for major environmental and sustainability projects.

The forum was organized by the Saudi-British Business Council of the Federation of Saudi Chambers and the City of London Corporation. Taking part were representatives of the Ministry of Investment and over 250 policymakers, industry leaders, senior executives, and public and private sectors representatives from the two countries.

The summit highlighted the investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s five largest projects: NEOM, Qiddiya, the Red Sea Project, Roshen, and Diriyah. It also emphasized the importance of developing sustainable infrastructure projects, financing strategies, and the future of green technologies.

Saudi Arabia and Britain are witnessing growing economic ties, with trade volume reaching approximately SR25.7 billion, reflecting a 13.8% growth. Britain ranks 25th among the Kingdom’s export partners and 10th in terms of imports.

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Saudi Electricity Company: Value of Local Content Contribution Exceeded $40 Billion

The Director of Local Content and the Benaa Program at the Saudi Electricity Company, Mahmoud Basurrah (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Director of Local Content and the Benaa Program at the Saudi Electricity Company, Mahmoud Basurrah (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Electricity Company: Value of Local Content Contribution Exceeded $40 Billion

The Director of Local Content and the Benaa Program at the Saudi Electricity Company, Mahmoud Basurrah (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Director of Local Content and the Benaa Program at the Saudi Electricity Company, Mahmoud Basurrah (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Head of Local Content at the Saudi Electricity Company Mahmoud Basurrah announced on Thursday that local content exceeded SAR150 billion (around $40 billion) over the past five years.

Basurrah revealed the establishment of nine new factories, noting that the company has surpassed the targets set by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) for 2025. PIF holds a 74.3% stake in the Saudi Electricity Company, while Saudi Aramco owns 6.9%, with the remaining shares held by other investors.

Local content measures the percentage of goods and services produced domestically and used in projects, reducing dependency on imports.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat during the Energy Localization Forum in Riyadh, Basurrah explained that local content strengthens reliance on national resources and labor, creating new job opportunities.

He highlighted the notable achievements of the Saudi Electricity Company in industry localization and enhancing local content, stating that local content has reached 63%, surpassing PIF’s target for next year of 60%. He added that the program has made rapid progress to meet sector growth, achieving various interim goals, including signing nine localization and procurement agreements worth over SAR6 billion ($1.6 billion), announced on Wednesday.

According to Basurrah, these agreements aim to establish nine factories for products, some of which will be manufactured in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

He further explained that the Benaa Program, established in 2019, aims to accelerate localization and strengthen local content within the Saudi Electricity Company, incorporating three main initiatives to encourage and support domestic manufacturing.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the first initiative focuses on “developing policies to support local manufacturers and contractors.” The second involves establishing mechanisms to incentivize small and medium-sized enterprises, while the third aims to attract investors in relevant fields, develop the workforce, and increase private sector contributions to the GDP, in line with Vision 2030.

In financial performance, the company doubled its quarterly profits in Q2 this year by 384.39% over Q1, when it earned SAR897 million. Year-on-year, profits rose by 8.16% to SAR4.34 billion in Q2 2024, compared to around SAR4.02 billion in the same quarter last year.