The meeting at QBA was also attended by Saudi Arabia’s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry, Badr Fouda, and Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan al-Saud, ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Qatar.
QBA first deputy to the chairman, Hussain Ibrahim Alfardan, welcomed al-Khorayef, in the presence of QBA board members Sheikh Nawaf Nasser bin Nasser al-Thani and Saud Omar al-Mana, as well as QBA members Khaled al-Mannai, Salah al-Jaidah, Nabil Abu Issa. They were also joined by Abdullah al-Kubaisi, Yousuf Ibrahim al Mahmoud, and Dhafer Mustafa Halawa, along with QBA deputy general manager Sarah Abdallah.
During the meeting, al-Khorayef expressed his gratitude to QBA and discussed Saudi Arabia’s industrial strategy focuses, particularly on 12 sub-sectors to diversify the industrial economy in the kingdom and the more than 800 investment opportunities worth 1tn Saudi riyals, which indicates that Saudi Arabia’s industrial strategy aims to double the industrial domestic product about three times, and double the value of exports.
He said Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Strategy aims to bring the total value of additional investments in the sector to 1.3tn Saudi riyals and to increase exports of advanced technical products by about six times.
Al-Khorayef invited the QBA to the Kingdom and assured the co-ordination between the ministry, the QBA, and the federation of Saudi Chambers, to discuss joint investment opportunities between the Saudi and Qatari private sectors, as well as investment opportunities in the industrial field that the ministry will present to Qatari investors.
“With regard to other sectors, such as the automobile sector, we announced the establishment of three automobile production factories, and we aim to attract more investments in this sector, which needs a large base of manufacturers and suppliers,” al-Khorayef said.
Al-Khorayef said Saudi Arabia has revised its estimates of the value of unexploited mineral resources, including phosphate, gold, and rare earth minerals, upwards to 9.4tn Saudi riyals ($2.5tn), making Saudi Arabia a destination for foreign investors as the priority will be for Gulf and Qatari investors.
For his part, Alfardan stated that Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing a major economic boom, underscoring the importance of the role of the private sector in economic diversification and achieving the kingdom’s economic vision, which practically requires a real partnership between the public and private sectors to reach its goals.
He emphasised that there are many investments by QBA members in Saudi Arabia related to tourism, jewellery, contracting, industry, and services, and work will be intensified to strengthen and diversify them during the upcoming visit to the kingdom.
Sheikh Nawaf stressed that Qatar has paved the way for the Qatari private sector and its participation in the development process, indicating that the kingdom is witnessing a qualitative and significant shift, which encourages the Qatari investor to explore the potential opportunities in the kingdom.
He also stressed that QBA is ready to visit the kingdom and co-operate with Saudi businessmen and the ministry on a number of industrial projects that benefit all parties.
Al-Khorayef encouraged Qatari investors by stating that the kingdom provides incentives and financing services to Gulf investors at concessional and differential rates of up to 50% of the project value, and the percentage increases in the industrial zones affiliated with the Industrial Authority.
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