RIYADH: In the face of ongoing economic turbulence caused by the Iran war, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources asserted that the current crisis would generate substantial opportunities for the Kingdom.
Drawing parallels with lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bandar Alkhorayef emphasized the Kingdom’s resilience and its ability to turn challenges into opportunities for growth.
The US-Israel war with Iran has prompted turmoil which has sent ripples through the global economy, with a drastic reduction in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz sparking an energy crisis.
In an interview with Asharq on the sidelines of the Local Content Awards ceremony, Alkhorayef said: “The current crisis will create significant opportunities for the Kingdom, as it is an important region with great capabilities to serve the entire region.”
He added: “We are seeing investments from other countries that view the Kingdom as having great resilience and the ability to respond to challenges.”
The minister stressed that national strategies remain flexible, adding: “It is impossible to have an industrial strategy for 10 years without taking global fluctuations into account. There is always an exploitation of the opportunities that events present, to learn from them and reduce the impact, similar to what happened during the COVID-19 crisis.”
Alkhorayef’s confidence is underscored by recent data on Saudi Arabia’s local content drive. Addressing the Local Content Awards ceremony in Riyadh, he revealed that the share of local content in government procurement has grown from a baseline of 28 percent in 2018 to more than 51 percent by the end of 2025.
This progress, he said, reflects a genuine shift in procurement toward domestic spending to build a strong and sustainable economy.
Further bolstering this trend, the Kingdom has signed around 80 localization and knowledge transfer agreements since activating this strategy, representing investments exceeding SR18 billion ($4.8 billion).
The minister also highlighted a surge in interest in the Local Content Award, a national initiative encouraging government, private sector, and non-profit groups to adopt best practices. The number of applicants for the award jumped by more than 131 percent compared to the previous edition, signaling broader awareness and engagement.
