Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef said that his ministry will focus on further empowering the private sector and creating more jobs for Saudis.

He made the remarks when the ministry started formally functioning as an independent entity from Jan. 1.

The ministry was established on Aug. 30 last year through a royal decree, after separating it from the Ministry of Energy.

Under the royal order, the powers, tasks and responsibilities related to the two sectors of industry and mineral resources were transferred to the new ministry. Accordingly, the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources was renamed the Ministry of Energy.

Al-Khorayef said the ministry is striving hard to achieve sustainable development in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which identified industry and mining as two strategic options to diversify the national economy.

“The ministry will continue to work on implementing the initiatives of the “Nadlab” program, to develop the national industry and logistic services in order to transform the Kingdom into a leading industrial and mining powerhouse and a global platform for logistic services.

“The program also supports promising sectors and empowers the private sector to play its role in developing industrial and mining sectors,” he said, adding that the program also addresses the challenges facing investors in the industrial sector in addition to maximizing the added value of mineral wealth throughout the Kingdom.

“We will go forward in enhancing cooperation and integration between the industrial system and mineral wealth, in order to attract more local and foreign investments and transfer of industrial and mining knowledge to the Kingdom.

“We will employ the fourth industrial revolution technologies to raise the competitiveness of Saudi products, in addition to enhancing cooperation with all relevant authorities to qualify national cadres and raise Saudization rates in the industrial and mineral wealth sectors,” the minister said.

Al-Khorayef also underscored the significance of supporting export operations in an effort to open up to global markets so that Saudi products would have a key presence in the international economic system.