Saudi Ministry Details Industrial Transformation Plan

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources presented in Riyadh the main features of Saudi Arabia's industrial transformation, built on a two-pronged policy approach aimed at modernizing factories and boosting national manufacturing.

The first track is a current Push Policy that offers enablers, incentives, and training to industrial facilities. The second, a Pull Policy set to launch in 2026, will tie ministry incentives directly to factory performance. Supporting these efforts is the ministry's new Advanced Manufacturing and Production Center (AMPC), which helps factories adopt digital transformation and advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, automation, and digital twinning.

The Industrial Lighthouses Program forms part of this work, split into Local Industrial Lighthouses and Global Lighthouses developed with the World Economic Forum. Meanwhile, the Future Factories Program targets converting 4,000 factories into smart factories using Industry 4.0 methods. Based on the SIRI methodology, the program aims to bring factories to at least the second SIRI level, and runs two tracks: one for new factories and another for existing factories being upgraded into advanced facilities.

For imports, the ministry's Senaei Platform processes industrial customs exemptions for licensed facilities bringing in machinery, spare parts, raw materials, semi-manufactured materials, and packaging used in production. In June 2026, the platform handled 1,274 exemption applications covering 4,662 items of raw materials and 13,974 items of machinery, equipment, and spare parts.

Looking ahead, the 2026 budget sets targets for the industrial and mining sector: more than 11,000 jobs for national talent by year-end, 2,286 new products and 516 new companies under the Made in Saudi Program to reach a total of 3,900 companies, and the addition of three industrial cities to bring the national total to 42. For residents and job seekers, these goals point to expanding local manufacturing and new employment opportunities across the Kingdom.

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