Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Investors in Jeddah industrial sector have spoken about their concern over different regulations that demand them to move to the Saudi Authority for the Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON). This move, they said, results in additional costs and restructuring of their businesses. Investors demanded that they get the authorization to remain in their locations instead of moving, taking into consideration that they are already licensed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said Lama Al-Sulaiman, an investor who is also a board member of the JCCI.



Saad Al-Mojil, the head of the National Industry Committee at the Council for Saudi Chambers, also stressed on the need not to force investors to move to new locations after spending millions in developing their locations. He added that the contracts should be long-lasting to prevent investors from losing in the long run.



Khalaf Al-Otaibi, a JCCI board member, said they need further cooperation from MODON and the Ministry of Commerce to be able to benefit from the low cost of electricity and the less expensive manpower to develop the industry in the Kingdom. He added that they still struggle with meeting the Saudization quota.



Other investors complained about some unexpected fees that MODON demanded for providing them with electricity as well as specific architectural designs that they demand from them when locating their factories in MODON zones.



Investors raised their concerns in a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry that welcomed some 200 investors in the industry sector and the downstream industries in Jeddah and Makkah, along with MODON and Ministry of Commerce officials.



Saleh Al-Rasheed, director general of MODON, replied back by noting that they provide long-term contracts for 20 years and renewable.



Moving factories, he said, is a decision that must be applied as some residents living in the area tend to complain to governorates and therefore MODON has to interfere and move factories.  “We work on clustering factories of the same nature in one location,” said Al-Rasheed, elaborating that this will reduce risks at food and beverages industries.



Al-Rasheed said electricity is available in the new location, but any additional electricity will demand additional costs because the package provided to all investors is equal.



He called on the investors to benefit from the facilities they provide and noted that they have SR7 billions at their disposal for the development of these cities.