JEDDAH, 4 April — The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) has said that it extended loans worth SR38.7 billion ($10.3 billion) that have helped establish 1,736 private industrial projects over a period of three decades.
Chemical products topped the list of industrial projects that benefited from the finances extended by the fund, accounting for 33 percent (or SR12.9 billion) of all loans. The latest available statistics, for the year 2000, released by the fund SIDF approved 32 loans worth SR1.53 billion for the chemicals sector (or 66 percent of all loans sanctioned during that year), according to a SIDF report.
“The year 2000 has seen a dramatic increase in the volume of loans extended by SIDF to finance industrial projects. The amounts approved during that year (SR2.3 billion) were 74 percent up from the previous year. This trend shows a strong desire by businessmen to invest in the industrial sector, in which there are many facilities and benefits extended by the government,” said SIDF Chairman Hamad Al-Sayari.
Engineering products, which accounted for 21 percent of overall loans extended to industrial projects, followed the chemical sector. During the past decades, the fund gave SR8.3 billion to finance the establishment of industrial units in Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah and Jubail.
In the third place came consumer goods, which accounted for 20 percent of the loans, with SIDF extending SR7.9 billion for this sector.
Minister of Industry and Electricity Dr. Hashim Abdullah Yamani has announced a new industrial strategy that will see the Kingdom review its overall development strategy. Over the next 20 years, the focus will be on selective industries to give Saudi products a competitive edge in international markets, the minister told a gathering of Saudi industrialists Tuesday in Jeddah.
Experts estimate that Saudi industries need $160 billion in investments over the next 20 years to double the sector’s share of the gross domestic product. Dr. Yamani said the industrial sector is expected to register 9.3 percent real growth during the current year. The Kingdom has at present 3,516 industrial units, with a combined capital of SR244 billion.
The two other main sectors that benefited from SIDF loans were cement, where SIDF gave away SR4.9 billion in loans amounting to 13 percent of overall finances, and the building material sector, which was awarded SR4.3 billion in loans.
The report said that since its establishment the fund approved 503 joint projects, making up 29 percent of the total number and extended loans worth SR15 billion for projects. These include chemical and engineering projects, mostly with partners from the United States. The American share in these joint projects represents 17 percent of the overall number, 22 percent of total finances and 39 percent of the capital.
