RIYADH: Industrial projects worth SR7.2 billion ($1.9 billion) were approved by Saudi Arabia in November as the Kingdom signed off on 82 new licenses – a month-on-month rise of 5.1 percent, according to the National Industrial and Mining Information Center. The number of permits issued in November 2022 is 14 more than were awarded in the same month a year earlier. Small enterprises acquired 85.3 percent of the new industrial licenses, followed by medium enterprises at 12.2 percent, and then micro enterprises with 2.44 percent. The new licenses are distributed across six industrial activities, including food products, non-metallic mineral products, then manufacturing of shaped metals except for machinery and equipment. The other activities were paper and paper products, clothing, and the manufacturing of chemicals and chemical products. In addition to this, the number of existing factories in the Kingdom until the end of the same month reached 10,742, with investments amounting to SR1.4 trillion. Some 50 factories started production during the month of November, with an investment volume of SR830 million, topped by non-metallic minerals with 11 plants, followed by food with 10, and then chemicals with six. Rubber and plastics, base metals, and metal came after with four factories per category. National factories accounted for 90 percent of those that started production, followed by foreign-owned facilities with 6 percent, and joint enterprises with 4 percent. The report also revealed that the new industrial licenses were distributed among 10 regions including Riyadh, the Eastern region, Makkah, Madinah, Asir, Qassim, Jizan, Hail, Al-Jawf, and Najran. According to the report, the total number of industrial licenses issued by the ministry from the beginning of 2022 until the end of November amounted to 885.