Last year, to position the kingdom at the forefront of industrial innovation and advanced manufacturing, Saudi Arabia launched the Saudi Advanced Manufacturing Hub strategy in partnership with the World Economic Forum. At the same time, National Strategy for Industry identifies more than 800 investment opportunities totaling $273 billion to diversify the industrial economy.

By 2035, the goal of the national policy is to increase the number of factories in the kingdom to 36,000.

On Wednesday, Osama bin Abdul Aziz Al-Zamil, Deputy Minister for Industry and Natural Resources, announced the launch of 15 new advanced factories for vital medicines and vaccines, assembling aircraft components, and for metal forming.

In addition, the minister said that the country aims to increase exports of high-tech goods while producing up to 800,000 tons of specialized chemicals.

The value of industrial exports is projected to increase by 100% to $153 billion, with the industrial, domestic product expected to double to $238 billion.

Furthermore, he said, this strategy will reduce the industrial trade balance deficit by up to 80%, bringing the value of new investments in the sector to $346 billion.