JEDDAH, 31 January — Minister of Industry and Electricity Dr. Hashim Abdullah Yamani will open today in Dammam the second Saudi industrialists meeting jointly organized by the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce.
Ismail Abu Dawood, CSCCI chairman, said the meeting would seek to project industry as a strategic option for the Kingdom and underline the role of the private sector as the driving force behind development.
He said the meeting provides an opportunity for industrialists and businessmen to meet with Dr. Yamani and convey to him ideas and plans on how the economy could best be developed.
Abu Dawood said 25 years ago the Kingdom had a little over 470 productive factories with a combined investment of SR10 billion. By last year, there were 3,190 factories with a combined investment of SR232 billion. The figure could increase substantially as a result of more investments expected under the newly approved foreign investment laws, which provide for incentive and other encouragement for investors.
He stressed the need for the Saudi private sector to increase its share in the country's GDP saying this had been one of the main targets in all national development plans. The private sector, he said, would be required to inject more money into the industry and to join in the construction and operation of new industrial cities. (A.N.)
