RIYADH — The Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mining Affairs stressed that the precautionary measures taken by the ministry and its support to investors highlighted the sustainability of the sector.

Eng. Khalid Bin Saleh Al Mudaifer, while emphasizing the vibrancy of the sector, lauded the Kingdom’s measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic during a virtual meeting organized by the Council of Saudi Chambers Thursday.

He expressed his pride in the steps taken by the Kingdom’s government under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the leadership of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for the wise precautionary decisions and measures that gave priority to the health of citizens and expatriates.

He stressed that the mining sector in the Kingdom immediately applied these precautionary decisions and measure, while adding that the Kingdom’s initiatives to helped the mining sector.

Eng. Al Mudaifer said that the measures taken by the Ministry in this regard were focused on supporting investors who hold mineral licenses, and among these initiatives was the postponement of collection of financial claims for the fiscal year 2019 for a period of two months.

The total cost of this delay amounted to about half a billion riyals. This postponement contributes to the sustainability of the sector, providing cash flows to investors, and ensuring the continuity of their contribution to economic growth, he said.

Eng. Al Mudaifer indicated that the Kingdom is one of the least spending countries in exploration of minerals in the world, where today we spend less than 25% of the rate of global spending on exploration per km2.

He pointed out that by developing mining investment and achieving optimal exploitation of mineral resources, the mining sector will become the third pillar of the Saudi industry alongside the petroleum and petrochemical industries.

In that event, the mining industry’s contribution to the Kingdom’s GDP will reach SR240 billion, raise the state’s revenues from this sector by more than SR8.9 billion rand generate 219,000 new jobs by 2030. — SPA