RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector is fast picking up steam, with the government issuing 99 new licenses in May to set up new factories, the latest official data showed. According to the Ministry of Industrial and Mineral Resources, the top economic activities receiving the licenses included food production at 16, carpentry at 10, and non-metallic mineral production at nine. It also issued nine new licenses for chemical production units, while formed metal manufacturing, as well as rubber production units, received eight licenses each. The report indicated that the volume of investments these new licensees committed to make was SR20.1 billion ($5.35 billion). The small enterprises acquired most of the new industrial licenses at 88.89. It was followed by medium enterprises which bagged 10.10 percent of licenses, alongside micro-enterprises which had a share of 1.01 percent. Saudi national factories recorded the largest share by acquiring 73.74 percent of the total licenses issued in terms of the type of investment. This was followed by foreign enterprises with 15.15 percent, while joint investment enterprises accounted for 11.11 percent. The ministry issued 484 industrial licenses from the beginning of this year till the end of April, and 10,966 factories were operating and under construction throughout the Kingdom during this period. The total investment into these existing and under-construction factories was SR1.47 trillion. The number of factories that started production in May was 98, with an investment of SR3.3 billion. Non-metal manufacturing facilities led these factories with 18, followed by mixed minerals at 12 plants, food at 11, rubber and plastic at 10, and carpentry at nine. Meanwhile, national factories accounted for 83.67 percent of all factories that began production, followed by joint and foreign investment accounting for 8.16 percent. Furthermore, the number of factories in the Kingdom rose 50 percent since the launch of Vision 2030, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Osama bin Abdulaziz Al-Zamil said in March. His comments came after figures released last year showed that the Kingdom had more than 10,000 industrial facilities, with 1,023 factories starting operations in 2022 alone.