RIYADH: The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) has launched an incentive package to encourage companies to list shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

“A set of incentives and facilities have been announced to encourage companies to list in the Saudi Stock Exchange within the framework of the initiative to stimulate the private sector to list in the Saudi financial market,” a MODON spokesman told Arab News.

These incentives stipulate that industrial firms seeking a share listing will be given priority to obtain land plots and factories, managers will be appointed to help with businesses setup, and factories and facilities will be equipped with infrastructure and other utility services, the spokesperson added.

These incentives were launched in line with the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) and the private sector initiative.

The FSDP is one of 12 executive programs launched by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) to achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the country’s economy away from oil production and exports, and seeks to develop the financial sector to support the development of the economy by stimulating savings, finance and investment.

Through a series of initiatives, the FSDP aims to boost and encourage private sector companies to list on the Tadawul in cooperation with the Capital Market Authority and the relevant government entities.

The move comes as it was announced that in May Saudi Arabia had issued 59 new industrial licenses to companies with capital of SR532 million ($141.8 million).

This was compared to 33 issued during the same month last year, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources said in a statement.

A report issued by the National Center for Industrial Information showed that 97 percent of the total industrial licenses issued were for national companies, while small factories accounted for nearly 75 percent of the new licenses.

Food manufacturing was the largest sector, accounting for 17 percent of the new licenses.

Riyadh was the most common location for new industrial licenses in May, with 22, followed by the Eastern Province with 12 licenses. Makkah saw 15 new factories open last month, accounting for 76 percent of the total.

Last month saw the creation of 6,753 job opportunities in the Saudi industrial sector, 60 percent of which were for Saudi citizens.

Existing industrial establishments in Saudi Arabia reached 10,070 at the end of May, with a total investment of SR1.134 trillion, according to the report of the National Center for Industrial Information.