RIYADH: In an effort to expand its industrial base, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources awarded 73 new licenses to production units in different sectors in June. According to the ministry’s monthly bulletin, June saw the issuance of 19 new licenses in the food production sector, seven in base metals, five in manufacturing industries, and six permits each were issued for chemical production and manufacturing of non-metallic mineral products. The new licenses issued in June managed to garner SR1.8 billion ($479 million) in investment volume, a slight decline when compared to May’s SR20.1 billion figure. Nonetheless, June’s figures bring the number of new licenses issued since the beginning of the current year to 557 with the total investments in the industry standing at over SR1.4 trillion. The bulletin indicated that small enterprises received the biggest share of licenses with 86.3 percent while medium and micro companies accounted for 12.33 percent and 1.37 percent, respectively. During the month, 93 factories started production with an investment volume of SR3.3 billion and added over 1,300 new jobs. The month closed with 10,982 existing and under-establishment factories, a rise from 10,966 in May. The number of employees in the sector also grew by 1,679 in June compared to the previous month. In June, 20 factories in the food sector began production in addition to 18 in the base metals sector, 13 in forged metals, nine in rubber production, and seven in machine production. Saudi national factories recorded the largest share by acquiring 72.60 percent of the total licenses issued in terms of the type of investment. This was followed by foreign enterprises with 16.44 percent, while joint investment enterprises accounted for 10.96 percent. The number of factories in the Kingdom rose 50 percent since the launch of Vision 2030, 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 units starting operations in 2022 alone.