Most of the new licenses — 109 — were issued for the Riyadh administrative region RIYADH: Saudi Arabia issued 260 new industrial licenses during the first quarter of 2022, according to a recent report published by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources. The size of new industrial investment totaled SR5.53 billion, while the number of jobs provided by licensed companies amounted to 8,053. This compares to 206 new licenses issued in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 308 in the first quarter of 2021. Most of the new licenses — 109 — were issued for the Riyadh administrative region. A further 61 and 45 new licenses were issued to the Eastern and Makkah region, respectively. As at the end of the first quarter, the total number of factories both operating and under establishment totaled 10,489. Factories processing non-ferrous metals had the largest share, followed by rubber and plastic products and non-metallic minerals. The cumulative size of investment in capital of these factories amounted to SR1.35 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2022. Small and medium enterprises dominated the industry, accounting for 5,273 and 4,386 factories respectively, with the remaining 830 being large companies. The Riyadh administrative region held the highest level of industrial units at 5,273 factories. The Eastern region came second with 2,291 factories, and the Makkah region 1,783 factories.