RIYADH: Industrial investments in Saudi Arabia rose SR32.03 billion ($8.54 billion) in 2022 as the Kingdom steadily diversified its economy in line with the goals outlined in Vision 2030. In its monthly bulletin, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources said the total volume of industrial investments in Saudi Arabia until December 2022 stood at SR1.428 trillion. The ministry revealed that from January 2022 to December 2022, 1,023 factories started operations, with investments amounting to SR28.79 billion, while 964 industrial licenses were issued. During the same period, Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector created 51,723 job opportunities, the ministry’s monthly bulletin added. The number of mining licenses issued by the ministry until the end of December 2022 were to 2,272 licenses, which includes 1,383 building materials quarry licenses, 635 exploration licenses, 178 mining and small mine exploitation licenses, 43 reconnaissance licenses, and 33 surplus mineral ores licenses. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar Al-Khorayef revealed that there are 212 industrial investment opportunities in the Kingdom through the Invest Saudi platform. The platform currently presents 82 out of the 163 investment opportunities previously announced by the Kingdom’s national strategy Vision 2030, and will add the rest by the end of 2023. Speaking at the Al-Ahsa Investment Forum, the minister said that the industrial sector is one of the focal points of Vision 2030 which aims to achieve an industrial renaissance and unleash enormous capabilities into the strategic sector. According to the Invest Saudi website, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s fastest-growing countries in the industrial sector with an average growth rate of 7.5 percent per year. The mining sector is one of the key pillars of the Kingdom’s economic diversification efforts. A recent report by The Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School for Mines in the US suggested that Saudi Arabia is set to become a “global leader” in the mining sector due to its healthy investment atmosphere.