The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources in Saudi Arabia, Bandar Al-Khorayef, said that the Kingdom aims to develop the mining sector and has taken steps in this direction, since the launch of the mining investment system in 2020, and we have noticed interest from local and foreign investors in the sector.
The minister added, in an interview with Al-Arabiya, during the activities of the African Mining Conference “Indaba”, which began Monday in Cape Town, South Africa, that the mining system bets on the clarity of investment tools and stimulates mining-related industries and creates a good market in the Kingdom by linking mining with industry. .
He explained that a large number of foreign companies participated in the last auction of the Al-Khenaiqiyah area filled with zinc and copper, which indicates the Kingdom’s success in stimulating investment.
The Minister of Industry indicated that the Kingdom will attract investments of more than 30 billion riyals in 2021, including some mixed projects between local and foreign investors, and it is a down payment related to industries related to mining.
The minister said that participation in the African Mining Conference aims to raise awareness of investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia regarding mining opportunities and the extraction and exploration of minerals.
He added that this deepens opportunities and creates opportunities for other sectors, which is a key part of the Kingdom’s approach to carbon neutrality, especially since many industries related to renewable energy require large quantities of minerals equivalent to 4 times what the world needs today.
And the autumn clause explained that the Kingdom has many tools that help investors achieve excellent returns, and a development financing system through development funds such as the Industrial Fund and local content policies that increase the demand for industrial products.
Regarding the establishment of factories for electric cars in Saudi Arabia and its connection to the mining sector, the Minister of Industry said that the Saudi market is large and the demand for electrical industries is increasing, and we are keen to link the industry with raw materials and exploit the minerals in the Kingdom to a good extent and enter them into intermediate and final industries.
The minister said that the numbers currently do not reflect the nature of mining activity, because we are at the beginning of the year, and there are ongoing discussions with investors who have investment ideas in the Kingdom, and we are trying with them to reach the best combination of these projects and provide financing, infrastructure and logistical needs, and we are working on a large number of projects to transform them from ideas to opportunities for implementation on the ground.
Bandar Al-Khorayef added that the financing in these projects is joint, and government financing gives credibility to commercial banks to finance these projects, such as financing the Industrial Fund that banks rely on to finance the sector.
The minister said that the size of the mining sector in the Kingdom is 70 billion riyals, and the targeted growth is large, and the basis for it will be what the Kingdom has done recently by investing in infrastructure directly and changing regulations and legislation.
The Kingdom seeks to attract more investments to the mining sector and increase its contribution to the economy.
In this context, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, under the umbrella of the “Invest in Saudi” program, is participating in the activities of the African Mining Conference “Indaba”, which began today in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Saudi delegation at the conference will review the Kingdom’s continuous efforts to advance the mining sector through updates made to regulations and legislation to create an atmosphere to attract investments.
It is noteworthy that the mining sector in the Kingdom attracted investments of more than 30 billion riyals in 2021.
