JEDDAH — MODON Director General Khaled Al-Salem said they will study a proposal suggested by businessmen to increase the time of operating licenses for factories, which are now valid for one year with the investors and the owners seeking a validity of three years.
"We will look into this and either expand the number of years or issue temporary licenses to ease the process for factories to contact government departments," he said.
Currently factories have only one-year licenses and if it expires all their government processes stops until they renew the permit. And the renewing procedure is a recurring process that takes valuable time.
Answering a Saudi Gazette question about their plans for 2018, he said they are now focusing on attracting entrepreneurs and SMEs. He added that they also want to introduce innovative solutions at the industrial cities.
He said that they are also working on providing electricity, water and telecommunication services as well as contacting international companies to provide renewable energy at specified locations — this includes solar and wind energies.
I this regard, he highlighted their signing of a memorandum of understanding with Huawei Tech Investment in order to transform Saudi industrial cities into smart cities.
Al-Salem was speaking on Thursday at an open discussion with factory investors at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) while also discussing opportunities and challenges with industrial investors.
Al-Salem noted that they are keen to listen to comments and suggestions so as to enhance the industrial sector in Saudi Arabia.
He said that the current problem facing local factories is not the rent prices or the Saudization regulations but rather the need to market local product taking into consideration the presence of competitive imported products.
He called on investors to visit international markets to see different industrial models.
Saudi women, he noted, are not yet present in Jeddah as investors but they are however highly present as employees. He added that they are ready to listen to the needs of different investors, particularly women, noting that women have provided great investment examples in Riyadh, particularly in clothing and chocolate manufacturing.
He said that MODON will cooperate with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Red Crescent, Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization and the Civil Defense in order to streamline industries and the process, and the indirect impact of the industrial base. The cooperation, he said, is needed to ensure safety at the industrial cities.
MODON supervises 35 industrial cities in the Kingdom with 5,000 factories and 500,000 direct and indirect jobs.
"We will look into this and either expand the number of years or issue temporary licenses to ease the process for factories to contact government departments," he said.
Currently factories have only one-year licenses and if it expires all their government processes stops until they renew the permit. And the renewing procedure is a recurring process that takes valuable time.
Answering a Saudi Gazette question about their plans for 2018, he said they are now focusing on attracting entrepreneurs and SMEs. He added that they also want to introduce innovative solutions at the industrial cities.
He said that they are also working on providing electricity, water and telecommunication services as well as contacting international companies to provide renewable energy at specified locations — this includes solar and wind energies.
I this regard, he highlighted their signing of a memorandum of understanding with Huawei Tech Investment in order to transform Saudi industrial cities into smart cities.
Al-Salem was speaking on Thursday at an open discussion with factory investors at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) while also discussing opportunities and challenges with industrial investors.
Al-Salem noted that they are keen to listen to comments and suggestions so as to enhance the industrial sector in Saudi Arabia.
He said that the current problem facing local factories is not the rent prices or the Saudization regulations but rather the need to market local product taking into consideration the presence of competitive imported products.
He called on investors to visit international markets to see different industrial models.
Saudi women, he noted, are not yet present in Jeddah as investors but they are however highly present as employees. He added that they are ready to listen to the needs of different investors, particularly women, noting that women have provided great investment examples in Riyadh, particularly in clothing and chocolate manufacturing.
He said that MODON will cooperate with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Red Crescent, Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization and the Civil Defense in order to streamline industries and the process, and the indirect impact of the industrial base. The cooperation, he said, is needed to ensure safety at the industrial cities.
MODON supervises 35 industrial cities in the Kingdom with 5,000 factories and 500,000 direct and indirect jobs.
© Copyright 2017 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
