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.



Biden Admin Delays Enforcement of Order Blocking Nippon Steel, US Steel Deal

FILE PHOTO: The logos of Nippon Steel Corp. are displayed at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Yuka Obayashi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logos of Nippon Steel Corp. are displayed at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Yuka Obayashi/File Photo
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Biden Admin Delays Enforcement of Order Blocking Nippon Steel, US Steel Deal

FILE PHOTO: The logos of Nippon Steel Corp. are displayed at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Yuka Obayashi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logos of Nippon Steel Corp. are displayed at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Yuka Obayashi/File Photo

The Biden administration will hold off enforcing a requirement laid out in an executive order this month that Nippon Steel abandon its $14.9 billion bid for US Steel, the companies said on Saturday.

US President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel's planned acquisition of US Steel on national security grounds on Jan. 3, and his Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week that the proposed deal had received a "thorough analysis" by interagency review body, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The delay will give the courts time to review a legal challenge brought by the parties earlier this month against Biden's order. The parties previously had 30 days to unwind their transaction, Reuters reported.
"We are pleased that CFIUS has granted an extension to June 18, 2025 of the requirement in President Biden's Executive Order that the parties permanently abandon the transaction," the companies said in a joint statement.
"We look forward to completing the transaction, which secures the best future for the American steel industry and all our stakeholders," they said.
US Steel and Nippon Steel alleged in a lawsuit on Monday that the CFIUS review was prejudiced by Biden's longstanding opposition to the deal, denying them of a right to a fair review. They asked a federal appeals court to overturn Biden's decision to allow them a fresh review to secure another shot at closing the merger.
The US Treasury secretary chairs the CFIUS panel, which screens foreign acquisitions of US companies and other investment deals for national security concerns. CFIUS normally decides directly on cases or submits recommendations to the president, but in the US Steel-Nippon Steel case, the panel failed to reach consensus on whether Biden should to approve or reject it, leaving the decision to him.
Both Biden and his successor, Republican Donald Trump, had voiced opposition to the Japanese company acquiring the American steelmaker as the candidates courted union votes in the November election won by Trump.
CFIUS has rarely rejected deals involving the Group of Seven closely allied countries, which include Japan.