RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 30 new industrial licenses in July — a 67 percent drop on the number handed out in June.
The furniture industry was issued with seven licenses, as were the food products, and manufacturing products of formed metals, industries.
Other non-metallic minerals firms received three licenses each, Saudi Press Agency reported.
A report issued by the National Center for Industrial and Mining Information indicated that the total number of industrial licenses issued by the ministry since the beginning of this year amounted to 531.
The number of existing and under construction factories in the Kingdom until the end of the same month reached 10,685, with investments amounting to SR1.367 trillion ($363.3 billion).
The report also showed that with the issuance of new licenses the volume of investment in July alone amounted to SR973 million.
It also indicated that small enterprises acquired most of the new industrial licenses during the same month with a rate of 86.67 percent, followed by medium enterprises with 13.33 percent.
National factories recorded the largest percentage of the total licenses issued by type of investment, by 73.33 percent, followed by foreign enterprises by 20 percent, and joint investment enterprises by 6.67 percent.
The report also showed that the new industrial licenses were distributed among five administrative regions, topped by the Riyadh region with 15 licenses.
