RIYADH — The government initiatives and incentives in dealing with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in the creation of 2,516 jobs for Saudis, and investments worth SR2.2 billion in June through 118 new licenses, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef has said. In a tweet, the minister said the results of the industrial sector augur well and reflect the positive impact of the government"s initiatives. The minister hoped that this would be the beginning of recovery from the negative impact of the pandemic. The ministry revealed on Thursday, the most important industrial indicators during June, according to data issued by the National Industry Information Center (NIIC). The data revealed that the number of new licenses for factories in June totaled 118, with capital amounting to SR2.18 billion. According to the data, most of the new licenses issued to factories operating in other non-metallic mineral products totaled 21, followed by each of the manufacture of shaped metal products excluding machinery and equipment, and the manufacture of rubber and plastics products, with 16 licenses each. The ministry said that the net number of existing industrial plants under construction up to the end of June totaled 9,211, compared to about 9,094 at the end of May 2020.