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Workers build cabs for excavators at a factory in Qingzhou, in China;s eastern Shandong province on October 31, 2024. China's manufacturing output expanded this month for the first time since April, official data showed on October 31, rare good news for leaders struggling to boost activity in the world's second-largest economy. (Photo by AFP).
The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology zones (Modon) has reported one of its best years in 2024, with incoming investments surging by nearly 38 percent.
The Authority said in its annual report released last week that total investments received by its industrial cities in 2024 reached around 24 billion Saudi riyals ($6.5 billion).
The new capital boosted the total investments in Modon’s 39 industrial and technology zones in the Gulf Kingdom to around SAR440 billion ($117 billion), the report said.
Companies and factories in these zones peaked at around 8,616 at the end of 2024 while jobs provided by the cities exceeded 593,000.
“The combined developed areas in these cities also increased by around 7 percent last year to reach nearly 219 million square metres,” the report said, adding that the Authority finalised 875 new industrial, logistics and investment contracts last year.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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