Bandar Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources
Saudi Arabia will announce tomorrow, Jan. 10, good news about its mineral wealth value at the Future Minerals Forum (FMF), said Bandar Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources.
On the sidelines of the FMF, Alkhorayef told reporters that the Kingdom will update the previously announced figure in 2016, which was estimated at more than $1.3 trillion (nearly SAR 5 trillion).
He added that the new figure was reviewed by global bodies to ensure its credibility.
The mining sector has several targets, mainly to make this sector the third pillar of industries in Saudi Arabia, the minister said, stressing that the Kingdom is on the right track, as the geological survey and more knowledge about mining wealth are among the Kingdom’s pivotal achievements.
He added that there is great demand and interest from foreign companies in the Kingdom, especially after the issuance of the new mining investment law, which is among the top of its kind worldwide in terms of transparency, clarity, and speed of obtaining the necessary licenses.
The taxes stipulated in the mining investment law are the lowest in the world, which makes the Kingdom a key competitor. This is besides Saudi Arabia’s geographical location, which qualifies it to be an important region for several capabilities in the mining sector and mineral wealth.
The Kingdom managed today to bring together at the FMF various producing countries and others that have great mining capabilities with the countries that are in dire need of more minerals, Alkhorayef said.
The minister noted that the sector is facing major challenges, the most important of which are the inflow of investments as well as identifying the nature of critical minerals and ways to extract them with high efficiency. This is besides ensuring the distribution of these minerals demographically and economically, he added.