Saudi Industry Ministry boosts non-profit sector with new services

A view of drilling rigs in a construction project in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Shutterstock
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Updated 12 August 2024
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Saudi Industry Ministry boosts non-profit sector with new services

  • Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources unveiled the new project, highlighting 6 major objectives to strengthen non-profit sector’s contribution
  • New electronic services, detailed on the ministry’s website, include applications for establishing non-profit organizations

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has enhanced the role of the non-profit sector in its industrial and mining fields by introducing new electronic services and a detailed operational plan for 2024. 

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources unveiled the new project, highlighting six major objectives to strengthen the non-profit sector’s contribution. 

Among these goals include improving workforce skills, increasing domestic investments, expanding non-oil industrial exports, and providing a range of supportive services, according to an official release. 

The Kingdom is actively pursuing an expansive industrial and economic transformation under its Vision 2030 framework, which aims to diversify the economy away from oil dependency. 

The National Industrial Strategy, launched in 2022, plays a crucial role in this transformation, focusing on enhancing industrial capabilities, increasing domestic production, and fostering sustainable economic growth. 

The new electronic services, detailed on the ministry’s website, include applications for establishing non-profit organizations and requesting the transfer of technical supervision to these entities. 

The ministry currently oversees five key non-profit associations, including the Pharmaceutical Industry Association, the Supply Chain and Procurement Society, and the Industrial Exporters Association. 

It also supervises the Industrial Loss Prevention and Risk Mitigation Association and the Automotive Manufacturers Association. 

These organizations play a critical role in advancing the industrial and mining sectors through activities such as research and studies, capacity building, awareness programs, and strategic coordination. 

The latest initiatives are designed to further empower these associations, driving continued growth and innovation within Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector. 

This Kingdom aims to increase the number of factories to approximately 36,000 by 2035, enhance investment attraction, and achieve economic diversification. 

The strategy seeks to triple manufacturing gross domestic product by 2030, boost industrial exports to SR557 billion ($148.38 billion), and attract SR1.3 trillion in additional sector investments. 

In the first quarter of this year, Saudi Arabia issued over 300 industrial licenses, maintaining the previous year’s pace. 

A ministry statement in May revealed that it issued 324 industrial permits in the first three months of the year, including 54 in March, with investments totaling SR1.047 billion during that month alone. 


Reforms target sustained growth in Saudi real estate sector, says Al-Hogail

Updated 26 January 2026
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Reforms target sustained growth in Saudi real estate sector, says Al-Hogail

RIYADH: The Real Estate Future Forum opened its doors for its first day at the Four Seasons Riyadh, with prominent global and local figures coming together to engage with one of the Kingdom’s most prospering sectors.

With new regulations, laws, and investments underway, 2026 is expected to be a year of momentous progress for the real estate sector in the Kingdom.

The forum opened with a video highlighting the sector’s progress in the Kingdom, during which an emphasis was placed on the forum’s ability to create global reach, representation, as well as agreements worth a cumulative $50 billion

With the Kingdom now opening up real estate ownership to foreigners, this year’s Real Estate Future Forum is placing a great deal of importance on this new milestone and its desired outcomes and impact on the market. 

Aside from this year’s forum’s unique discussions surrounding those developments, it will also be the first of its kind to launch the Real Estate Excellence Award and announce its finalist during the three-day summit.

Minister of Municipalities and Housing and Chairman of the Real Estate General Authority Majed Al-Hogail took to stage to address the diverse audience on the real estate market’s achievements thus far and its milestones to come.

Of those important milestones, he underscored “real estate balance” as a key pillar of the sector’s decisions to implement regulatory tools “with the aim of constant growth which can maintain the vitality of this sector.” He pointed to examples of those regulatory measures, such as the White Land Tax.

On 2025’s progress, the minister highlighted the jump in Saudi family home ownership, which went from 47 percent in 2016 to 66 percent in 2025, keeping the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal of 70 percent by the end of the decade on track.

He said the opening of the real estate market to foreigners is an indicator of the sector’s maturity under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said his ministry plans to build over 300,000 housing units in Riyadh over the next three years.

Speaking to Arab News,  Al-Hogail elaborated on these achievements, stating: “Today, demand, especially local demand, has grown significantly. The mortgage market has reached record levels, exceeding SR900 billion ($240 billion) in mortgage financing, we are now seeing SRC (Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co.) injecting both local and foreign liquidity on a large scale, reaching more than SR54 billion”

Al-Hogail described Makkah and Madinah as unique and special points in the Kingdom’s real estate market as he spoke of the sector’s attractiveness.

 “Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become, in international investment indices, one that takes a good share of the Middle East, and based on this, many real estate investment portfolios have begun to come in,” he said. 

Al-Ahsa Gov. Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr Al-Saud told Arab News the Kingdom’s ability to balance both heritage sites with real estate is one of its strengths.

He said: “Actually the real estate market supports the whole infrastructure … the whole ecosystem goes back together in the foundation of the real estate; if we have the right infrastructure we can leverage more on tourism plus we can leverage more on the quality of life … we’re looking at 2030, this is the vision … to have the right infrastructure the time for more investors to come in real estate, entertainment, plus tourism and culture.”