Saudi Arabia's industrial and construction sectors are concluding agreements and contracts worth over $2 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.
A report issued by the Ministry's National Center for Industrial and Mining Information indicated that the ministry issued 531 industrial licenses from the beginning of this year until July.
The number of existing and under-construction factories in Saudi Arabia reached 10.6 thousand, with an investment volume of about $363 billion.
The report indicated that investments following the new licenses in July amounted to $258.9 million, while small enterprises acquired most of the new industrial permits during the same month by 86.6 percent, followed by medium enterprises by 13.3 percent.
Local factories recorded the most significant proportion of the total licenses issued by a type of investment, accounting for 73.3 percent, followed by foreign enterprises at 20 percent and joint-investment enterprises at 6.6 percent.
Also, 22 factories began production in July, with investments amounting to $145.7 million, topped by the food industry with nine factories, followed by paper and nonferrous metal factories with four each.
The report revealed that the new industrial licenses were distributed among five administrative regions, topped by the Riyadh region with 15 licenses, followed by the Eastern region with seven licenses, then Makkah with six licenses, while al-Qassim and Madinah registered one license for each.
The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issues, through the National Center for Industrial Information, a monthly bulletin with essential industrial indicators that clarify the nature of the movement of industrial activity in the Kingdom.
