RIYADH — Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar AlKhorayef has confirmed that the mining regulation is set to be issued soon to tackle the issues in the sector.

He called upon businessmen in the mining sector to specify all their needs and demands so that they are dealt with, the way it was done with the industrialists.

Meanwhile, Eng. Osama Al-Zamil, deputy minister of industry and mineral resources, has said that the industrial strategy would be completed by the end of this year.

During the fourth meeting of the Council of Riyadh Industrialists, AlKhorayef said that the ministry was working on overcoming any shortcomings facing industrial investment in Saudi Arabia.

He added that the industrial sector is based on a triangle in which the base is the ministry, one of its sides the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP) and the second side represents the other pertinent sectors and authorities, according to Al-Eqtisadiah Arabic daily.

He said that the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 has ambitious plans to develop the industrial sector. He stressed that all have to be up to the mark in shouldering the responsibilities and alleviating the sector’s burdens.

He added that the nature of the industrial sector and its experiences extend to different regions of the Kingdom.

The ministry would ensure that the various regions of the Kingdom benefit from the experience of the Industrial Council, and it would provide support to the Council and make sure it continues in its functions.

He stressed that the ministry would make sure that the private sector would be able to manage this Council in the coming years.

AlKhorayef said that attending such meetings is an opportunity for the government sector to impart all the latest innovations and new ideas and see to it that the needs of the private sector are noted down and met.

Meanwhile, Al-Zamil, while elaborating of the industrial strategy, stressed the necessity to employ 35,000 Saudis in the industrial sector in two years by training the Saudi youth and developing their skills in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD).

Meantime, Khaled Al-Mudaifir, deputy minister of industry for mining affairs, said that the mining regulation would be transparent and in everybody’s interest. He added that it is in its final stages.

In a speech he made, Ajlan Al-Ajlan, chairman of Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), said that the industrial sector enjoys a lot of attention from the government.

One aspect of this attention is the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 focusing a lot of attention on the industrial sector and the role it has set for the sector in restructuring the national economy and diversifying the sources of income.

He further said that the establishment of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources is evidence of this attention.

Al-Ajlan said that the decision to waive expatriate fees from non-Saudi workers in factories, the decision to fix the prices of the energy blend, electricity and hydrocarbons in the industrial installations with the beginning of the new ministry’s functions, is an impetus for more investments in the industrial sector.