RIYADH: Businesses in Saudi Arabia can now benefit from increased 3D printing capacity in the Kingdom thanks to additive manufacturing company Immensa setting up a $15 million factory in Dammam as part of its ambitious regional expansion plans.
According to a company statement, the facility — which spans 1,500 sq. meters — will create high-value parts on demand for the petrochemicals, energy, and oil and gas industries.
Osama bin Abdulaziz Al-Zamil, the vice minister of industry and mineral resources, cut the ribbon on the plant, the statement said.
The plant aligns with the Kingdom’s efforts to localize manufacturing, raise competitiveness and create sustainable job opportunities.
“Immensa has ambitious expansion plans underpinned by local talent and engineers. We will continue empowering the industrial ecosystem to ensure not only that we are a major player in this field but also that Saudi Arabia and the wider region lead in local on-demand, advanced manufacturing,” said Ali Abdulaziz Al-Turki, chairman of Immensa.
The building will serve as the Kingdom’s first private center for industrial-grade additive manufacturing and is anticipated to service markets in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
The company uses US-based General Electric’s additive 3D printers, including the region’s biggest metal laser melting machine.
The Kingdom is gearing up to become a hub for global manufacturing as part of the industrialization plans of its Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the economy.
Speaking on Saudi Arabia’s changing manufacturing landscape at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Minister of Industry and Minerals Bandar Alkhorayef said: “We will see more complexity, more advanced products.”
He added: “Artificial intelligence and 3D printing will allow us to create the right jobs for the future, the jobs we want to see for our children and their children.”
Alkhorayef said the Kingdom’s strategic location, natural resources, access to different markets and emerging talent make it a force to be reckoned with in the global manufacturing sphere, and the Saudi government’s view is that it should act as an “enabler” for investments in the manufacturing and industrial sectors.
He added that his ministry is working towards ensuring a proper regulatory framework for investments, solid infrastructure to create the factories of the future and developing human capital by providing education and training.
