Industry

With plans in the pipeline to inject significant investment into expanding its output of metals, petrochemicals and plastics over the next several years, Saudi Arabia continues to dominate the region’s industrial activity. This should keep the Kingdom at the forefront of the world’s industrial exporters, at a time when global economic uncertainties are subduing demand for many commodities. As for downstream manufacturing, the government hopes to expand this sector rapidly over the next couple of decades, taking care to tailor new upstream and midstream activities accordingly. Not everybody is sure that Saudi Arabian manufacturers can compete internationally in the long run, but the fact that investments – both Saudi Arabian and foreign – have continued to be announced in 2012 suggests the Kingdom is still seen as a land of opportunity. This chapter includes an interview with Hussein A Al Athel, Secretary-General, Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.