The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 52 mining licenses and 92 industrial licenses last August, Al Riyadh paper reported. As many as 97 percent of the factories started production in the same month with an annual growth of 143 percent, and a licensed capital of about SR917 million ($244.4 million). The Saudi industrial sector attracted investments worth SR4 billion during August, and managed to create about 7,622 jobs, of which 2,999 jobs were for Saudis, a report by the National Centre for Industrial and Mining Information (NIDC) revealed. The report also indicated that 90 percent of the total new industrial licenses were for national investments. Small factories accounted for about 85 percent out of the total licensed factories. Riyadh acquired the largest proportion of the new licenses with 29 industrial licenses during the same month, followed by Makkah with 25 licenses, while Eastern Province got 16 licenses. Riyadh also acquired the largest share of the number of new producing factories with 61 factories. Rubber and plastic manufactures accounted for the largest number of factories that started production during the last month, with 22 factories, followed by furniture manufactures with 20 factories. The total number of existing industrial establishments in Saudi Arabia reached 10,159 led by the operating factories by the end of August, NIDC report showed. Over 2,000 factories produce non-metallic minerals, whereas the total volume of investments in the total factories amounted to more than SR1.3 trillion.