Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman named LCGPA chairman

Royal orders issued on 13 August 2026 appointed Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority (LCGPA), and relieved Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef from the post.

With this appointment, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman now holds the roles of Minister of Energy, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, and Chairman of the LCGPA Board of Directors. The change was made directly by royal order; the chairmanship is a separate appointment that must be reassigned explicitly, independent of ministerial portfolio changes.

The move came as part of royal orders reconstituting the Council of Ministers in August 2026, which kept existing ministers in their posts while updating certain economic and regulatory leadership positions, including the LCGPA chairmanship.

What the Authority does

The Local Content and Government Procurement Authority is the central government body responsible for local content policy, government procurement regulations, and mechanisms to raise the share of local products and services in government spending.

In February 2026, the Authority raised minimum local content percentage requirements as eligibility conditions for certain government procurement, lifting the mandated thresholds for specified products and services. In April 2026, it introduced and expanded a local-content weighting mechanism in the financial evaluation of tenders, giving bids with higher Saudi local content a higher evaluation score.

These policies apply to government entities and state-owned enterprises when buying goods and services, affecting tender evaluation, contract awards, and compliance obligations for suppliers. For residents and businesses in Riyadh, Jeddah and beyond, the direction signals continued efforts to expand opportunities for local firms and workers within government procurement under the Kingdom's economic goals.

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