RIYADH: German investment in the Saudi mining sector was one of the key topics of discussion when the Kingdom’s industry minister met with a leading Bavarian politician.
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef held talks with Roland Weigert, vice minister in the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, as part of his visit to Germany.
The pair also discussed ways to enhance the Saudi-German partnership and exchange expertise, as well as focusing on the promising investment opportunities between the two countries, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Alkhorayef’s visit to Germany aims to boost the Kingdom’s industrial and mining sectors, which are among the major pillars of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative to diversify the economy away from oil and attract foreign investment.
Mining is one of the 13 strategic sectors in the plan, and there is an estimated $1.3 trillion worth of resources to be excavated in the Kingdom.
As well as meeting with Weigert during his trip to Germany, Alkhorayef also visited the Technical University of Munich.
The minister was briefed about its engineering, artificial intelligence, and Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, and discussed cooperation and partnership with the university’s officials in academic research, specialized in the industrial and mining sectors.
Alkhorayef’s Germany visit came a week after he held similar meetings in France as part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to attract foreign investment into its economy.
The minister met with leading business figures at the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce in Paris, and he emphasized the Kingdom’s keenness to facilitate investment.
Saudi Arabia has been working to transform its mining industry into the third pillar of its national strategy, and in March it issued 27 new licenses in the sector, bringing the total to 2,314.
The Kingdom boasts over 20 distinct mineral types, including gravel, gold, iron, copper, granite and marble.
It also features 35 specific geological formations, known as mineral belts, with abundant deposits.
