The COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive impact on some activities of Saudi Arabia's industrial sector, Minister of Industry of Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef said in an interview with Sputnik, adding that the kingdom has taken advantage of the crisis situation to strengthen those positively-affected activities
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2020) The COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive impact on some activities of Saudi Arabia's industrial sector, Minister of Industry of Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef said in an interview with Sputnik, adding that the kingdom has taken advantage of the crisis situation to strengthen those positively-affected activities.
"The pandemic has negatively affected [a number] of activities of the industrial sector, meanwhile it has had a positive impact on some others, and we used the crisis to enhance the readiness of industries that have been influenced positively. Of course, the coronavirus crisis has contributed to causing a negative effect in most of the world countries in various sectors and also disrupted global supply chains. The emergence of the pandemic affirmed the need to establish local supply chains through national factories," Al-Khorayef said.
The pandemic has prompted the kingdom to implement a number of initiatives, including financial support for working capital reserves of the plants operating in sectors most affected by COVID-19, the minister added, noting that the country has succeeded to increase the production capacity of the personal protection equipment in the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, "starting from 600,000 masks per day to over 3 million."
The coronavirus situation has contributed to accelerating some of Saudi Arabia's plans on the development of the national industry, the minister said, adding that the kingdom "is considered to be one of the most efficient countries in tackling the COVID-19 crisis" and has provided its citizens will full assistance and also ensured their requirements.
"There has been a significant increase in the number of new industrial factories: the ministry has granted 811 new industrial licenses from August 2019 until August 2020 with an investment volume of 13 billion and 220 million Saudi Riyals. The number of existing industrial plants has also witnessed a growth of 8.6 percent during the same period, with the total number of factories reaching 9,357," Al-Khorayef said.
The kingdom also expects the mining and metallurgical sector to become "the third pillar" of Saudi Arabia's economy by 2030, the minister said, expressing hope that this sector would be the largest to boost the development of the kingdom's industry.
Al-Khorayef also told Sputnik that the ministry has recently signed four agreements with the leading international corporations to conduct exploration, build a comprehensive geological database and develop maps of fields, which are located in western Saudi Arabia.
When asked about Riyadh's approach to becoming the Gulf industrial center, the minister said that the country's potential "is quite enough to realize this objective." As a large percentage of the country's youth is ready to introduce innovations in the industry, the kingdom has serious prospects for further development in this field.
The minister highlighted that the goals and targets of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategic program on the diversification of its economy should lead the country to a new level.
