Riyadh-The Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON) has revealed that it inked more than 6,000 industrial, logistic, and services contracts for investments that exceed SAR600 billion (USD160 billion) and provide job opportunities for more than 520,000 employees.
Sami al-Hussaini, official spokesperson of Modon, told Asharq Al-Awsat that factories in the industrial zones have registered a remarkable rise during 2015, in addition to the completed and under-construction industrial projects, noting that Modon has enhanced the attraction of industrial investment.
Hussaini noted that the authority has managed 35 industrial cities by the end of 2015 after it joined the development and operation of the industrial zone in Waad Al Shamal region.
He added that these industrial cities are characterized by their geographical spread across the Kingdom, which is one of Modon’s main goals.
According to the official spokesman, the manufacturing industries’ contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) reached 12.2% compared to 10.8% in 2014. He continued that these industries’ values reached around SAR299 billion by the end of 2015.
Hussaini asserted that the visit of HH Saudi deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz to the United States and France marked a remarkable step toward the implementation of the Saudi Vision 2030 through the inauguration of strategic partnerships with leading companies aiming at importing knowledge and technique, Saudization of expertise in the fields of manufacturing, maintenance, research, development, and the promotion of digital transformation.
He added that the prince has inked an agreement with Cisco Systems International, one of the biggest technology companies in the world of information industry, and launched negotiations with Dow Chemicals and industries working in retail and modern commerce.
The spokesman of Modon said that the national infrastructure is ready to embrace these major projects through their planning and executing expertise.
Hussaini also revealed that developed industrial lands have registered a growth that jumped from 40.5 m² in 2007 to 182.5 m² in 2015.
He added that Modon adopts a flexible strategy in providing manufacturers with lands according to a specific mechanism and special services, and spreading more industrial cities in different regions in the Kingdom, which decreased pending demands in 2015 to 11 compared to 1,525 in 2012.
Hussaini added that the authority manages the development and operation of private industrial cities and technological zones based on its role in regulating and encouraging the establishment of such projects in industrial lands owned by the public and private sector and to encourage the private sector on participating in different activities related to those cities.
As part of enhancing this vital role, Modon works on recruiting the developers who aim at establishing private industrial cities by providing significant incentives and facilitations.
In this concern, Hussaini revealed that Modon has succeeded over the past years in attracting manufacturers and in authorizing the establishment of new private industrial cities that comprise around 86 manufactures.