JEDDAH, 23 August 2006 — Market experts estimate that the electrical and electronic industry in the Kingdom will export SR300 million worth of 350,000 pieces of locally manufactured electronic devices by the end of the next financial year. The destinations of the Saudi goods will be the Gulf and Arab countries and Turkey. The made-in-Saudi Arabia products are expected to have a 40 percent increase in the local markets followed by 30 percent increase in the Gulf markets and a seven percent increase in Turkey.
A great leap in the output level at the Saudi factories is expected largely thanks to the expansion of the production capacity of the local companies by 30 percent. The increased output will be possible because a total of SR4 billion investments have been made in the industry.
The volume of the export of nationally produced commodities in Jeddah stood at SR516 million in early August. This meant an average monthly increase of SR155 million compared to the past months in the year. There was also a 60 percent increase to the demand of the Saudi goods in the Gulf markets and also an increase in the demand for Saudi goods in the Arab and European markets.
The growth in demand followed the announcement of some multinational companies specializing in the manufacture of electronic and electrical devices to merge with Saudi companies and create distribution tie-ups to increase their investments in the local market.
The national companies are also striving to attract greater number of specialized workers to increase their production capacity and to switch over to cutting edge technologies in the manufacturing process apart from heightened promotion of their products in the Middle East. The field studies have shown that air-conditioners alone have a market of SR1.7 billion while the total value of the electronic and home appliances is estimated at SR2.3 billion.