DAMMAM, 17 February 2004 — The Eastern Province is experiencing an industrial boom. Minister of Industry Trade Dr. Hashim A. Yamani recently announced that in Dammam alone investments worth SR1.5 billion were already in the pipeline and many new industrial units were scheduled to be in operation by the end of this year.
The Directorate of Industries, which manages the two industrial cities in Dammam, stated that nearly 40 new licenses were issued this year and that the Ministry has allocated sites in the Industrial City II to the new industrial concerns, most of which seem to be petrochemical support industries.
In 2002 a total of 1,330 new industrial licenses were issued in the country with a total investment value of an estimated at SR31 billion.
The Seventh Five Year Plan (2000-2004) projected that about 3,000 industrial licenses would be issued to establish new industrial projects with an investment of about SR60 billion. In addition about 150 industrial licenses will be issued for joint ventures with foreign investors with an investment of SR6.5 billion.
The plan also envisaged that 693 industrial units would go into production with an investment of SR18 billion.
These projections were exceeded by 2002. According to a SAMA report from 2000 to 2002 a total of 3,467 industrial licenses were issued with a projected investment of SR72 billion.
These figures issued by SAMA covered the entire Kingdom, but the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry sources say that the bulk of the licenses issued were for the Eastern region including the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu.
Business experts say that the liberalization policy adopted by the country was yielding result and many foreign investors were now keen to join their Saudi counterparts in setting up new joint ventures, particularly in the petrochemical sector.