Pandemic encourages more local manufacturing Health spending third largest in 2020 budget DUBAI: A suite of new legal reforms will attract foreign investment into the Kingdom’s medical supplies sector, the industry’s watchdog head predicts. It follows the introduction of sweeping legislative changes in Saudi Arabia aimed at increasing the efficiency of its judicial institutions and court processes. The new framework will also help local manufacturers in the sector to grow and export, Hisham bin Saad Aljadhey, CEO of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) told Asharq Business. The rapid expansion of the health care market in Saudi Arabia is attracting more companies to invest in the Kingdom, Aljadhey said. Health and social development represents a major chunk of Saudi Arabia’s annual spending and accounts for about 16.4 percent of the country’s budget expenditure— the third-largest share last year. The pandemic has encouraged even greater investment in the sector to reduce the country’s reliance on medical imports such as masks and other items which are now being manufactured within the Kingdom.