RIYADH: Saudi Arabia plans to increase the number of factories by 50 percent in the next five years and pump SR1.4 trillion ($370 billion) into the industrial sector, said the deputy minister of industry and mineral resources. Speaking at the launch of the Sanaei platform at the second edition of the LEAP technical conference in Riyadh, Osama Al-Zamil said the Kingdom ultimately wants to see the current number of such facilities rise from 10,500 at present to 36,000 by 2035. He also said the Sanaei platform aims to facilitate the adoption of best practices fomenting the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “The level of reliance on skilled personnel will increase the competitiveness and operational efficiency of factories, present investment opportunities in the sector and provide incentives,” said the official added. He stated that the “Future Factories Package” aims to transform 4,000 factories into operationally and technologically advanced facilities to raise digital maturity, operating efficiency and industrial capabilities, thereby promoting the development of exports, improving the work environment in factories, and providing attractive quality jobs by adopting the technologies of the 4IR. The program focuses on two tracks. The first ensures new factories are designed and constructed according to high manufacturing and production efficiency standard, while the second transforms existing factories into facilities of operational excellence and advanced technologies.