Riyadh and Seoul reviewed the horizons for cooperation in industrial development on Thursday, especially collaboration on transferring the expertise of establishing and managing industrial cities in South Korea.
Cooperation was discussed during a meeting between the Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Al-Khorayef, and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea Moon Seung-wook, who is currently visiting the Kingdom.
Moon arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a three-day stay at the Saudi minister’s invitation.
During the meeting, Al-Khorayef highlighted the industrial and mining sectors, as well as the mining investment system and opportunities in the Kingdom. Benefiting from the Korean experience in the fields of establishing and managing industrial cities was reviewed by the two ministers.
The Saudi Minister of Industry also discussed areas of cooperation and investment opportunities between the two countries in the fields of food industries, automobile industry, and shipbuilding, in addition to the manufacture of medical imaging devices, cosmetics, fashion, and leather products.
Al-Khorayef invited the Korean companies to visit the industrial cities in the Kingdom, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and MODON.
The Kingdom’s non-oil exports to South Korea in 2020 amounted to SAR 3.2 billion, while the volume of imports from Korea to the Kingdom amounted to SAR14.4 billion riyals.
In other news, the Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources revealed, in a report issued by the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, that the volume of investments in the Kingdom’s manufacturing products industry exceeded SAR 15 billion by the end of September 2021.
These investments constitute 1.13% of the total volume of investments in the industrial sector, said the ministry, noting that the number of factories specialized in manufacturing industries in Saudi Arabia has reached 230.
According to the report, these factories specialized in the manufacturing industries contribute to providing nearly 10,000 jobs in various technical, mechanical and supervisory fields, with national cadres accounting for 27% of those jobs.
The Kingdom’s manufacturing industries include a wide range of products, including jewelry, tools and devices for medicine, surgery, dentistry, veterinary medicine and other products, said the report.
The report also indicated that the volume of exports of the manufacturing industries exceeds SAR 436 million.
