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176 Industries Localized in Saudi Arabia with Investments Exceeding $34 Billion

Saudi Arabia is seeking to localize various industries, which will reflect positively on the country’s gross domestic product. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia is seeking to localize various industries, which will reflect positively on the country’s gross domestic product. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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176 Industries Localized in Saudi Arabia with Investments Exceeding $34 Billion

Saudi Arabia is seeking to localize various industries, which will reflect positively on the country’s gross domestic product. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia is seeking to localize various industries, which will reflect positively on the country’s gross domestic product. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Local Content Coordination Council revealed that the value of opportunities that were developed and launched in the Kingdom during the past year, with the aim to increase local content, reached about 24.8 billion riyals ($6.6 billion).

In parallel, 176 industries were localized in three years from 2019 to 2022 with an investment value amounting to SR128 billion.

The announcement came during the sixth meeting of the Local Content Coordination Council, headed by Bandar Alkhorayef, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority.

The percentage of the procurement index of domestic goods amounted to 69.25% from the total spending on goods in 2021, according to the council.

It added that the value of the opportunities which were developed and launched in order to increase the local content reached SR24.8 billion.

The council also stressed that the percentage of local content reached 45.8% of the total expenditure on member companies’ purchases of goods and services in 2021.

The council was established to lead the process of developing local content under the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, and unify the efforts of the relevant government agencies and major national companies.

It also promotes strategic partnerships with major companies based on specific criteria.

The council held its sixth meeting in the presence of Abdulrahman bin Abdullah Al-Samari, CEO of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, along with representatives of board members from the Ministries of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, Saudi Aramco, SABIC, Maaden, the Saudi Electricity Company, and the STC Group, as well as the General Organization of Saudi Arabian Airlines, and the Federation of Saudi Chambers.

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UK Treasury Chief Heading to China to Revive Suspended Economic, Financial Talks

FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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UK Treasury Chief Heading to China to Revive Suspended Economic, Financial Talks

FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Britain's Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the UK's Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with Beijing.
The Treasury said Friday that Rachel Reeves will travel to Beijing and Shanghai and will meet with her Chinese government counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Reuters reported.
Reeves' trip is expected to revive the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue — annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations in recent years.
A series of spying allegations from both sides, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony, have soured ties.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the UK Financial Conduct Authority's chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, are also in the delegation, according to the Treasury. Representatives from some of Britain’s biggest financial services firms will join the trip.
Officials did not provide details, but media reports have said senior executives from HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered were included.
Reeves' visit comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to China in October and Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November.
The meetings form part of a bid by Starmer, who was elected as leader in July, to strengthen political and economic ties with China, the UK's fifth-largest trading partner.
Officials said Starmer wanted a “pragmatic” approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy.
But some in the opposition Conservative Party have criticized his stance and said trade ties should not come at the expense of national security and human rights concerns.
British political leaders and intelligence chiefs have warned repeatedly of the security threats that China poses. Calls to tackle the challenge grew louder last month when it emerged that an alleged Chinese spy had cultivated close ties with Prince Andrew and carried out “covert and deceptive activity” for China's ruling Communist Party, according to officials.
Nevertheless, Lammy told reporters in London on Thursday that “there are many areas of trade that don’t impact on national security.”
He said Reeves “will repeat many of the messages that I took to China.”
“What we’ve said is in this complex relationship with a global superpower, we are guided by three Cs”: challenge, compete and cooperate, for example in areas including health and climate challenges, Lammy added.