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H.E Eng. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Salem, President, Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu

SAUDI ARABIA - Industry

H.E Eng. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Salem

President, Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu

Bio

H.E. Eng. Khalid Al-Salem has held the position of the President of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu with the rank of Minister and Chairman of Marafiq’s Board of Directors since May 2022.

“The SME Sector is a crucial element of Vision 2030 and an essential element of our Strategic direction.”

H.E. Eng. Khalid Al-Salem has held the position of the President of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu with the rank of Minister and Chairman of Marafiq’s Board of Directors since May 2022.

Can you elaborate on the Royal Commission’s crucial role in supporting new opportunity growth for Jubail and Yanbu?

The government set up Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) over 40 years ago as a beacon and best practice model for the growth of industrialization in the Kingdom. In addition, RCJY has recently undertaken a comprehensive refresh of its strategy and focused on meeting the needs of global, regional, and local investors building on the success of our operating model. This strategy refresh has been undertaken in the context of Vision 2030, the National Industrial Strategy, the National Mining Strategy, and The National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NDLP). In developing its future strategic direction, the RCJY has considered its strategic role in terms of industrial profile, value proposition, and operating model. We used these elements to enhance our ability to provide an investor-friendly environment and to support growth opportunities in RCJY Cities. Moreover, The RCJY has considered its competitive environment for each sector of the National Industrial Strategy, which includes advantages of investors in RCJY cities. We have developed and are implementing initiatives to enhance our cities’ attractiveness further, ensuring a smoother investor journey and supporting investors in their growth once they have established themselves in RCJY Cities.

How are you building awareness of Jubail and Yanbu’s potential?

As you know, RCJY continues to provide a highly competitive environment for investors considering location opportunities. We undertake active promotion by attending a combination of global and regional events dedicated to the sectors of NDLP (with a focus on the National Industrial Strategy and National Mining Strategy). We actively reach out to potential investors for the target sectors and invite investors to our cities to see first-hand the infrastructure, facilities, support, and available services. We also promote investment opportunities through social media, which are available to local and international investors.

How are you accelerating and supporting SMEs?

The SME Sector is a crucial element of Vision 2030 and an essential element of our Strategic direction. This is one of our five Strategical Goals; to grow the existing industrial base and develop new sectors with a focus on attracting industrial SMEs. We have developed and are implementing initiatives that will further enhance the attractiveness of our cities to SMEs and enable them to invest. One example of such Initiatives is providing shared services such as a specialized business environment for SMEs and ready-built factories and providing customized, attractive schemes and adapted procedures (e.g., payment terms, preferential agreements terms, fast-track procedures).

How does the development in Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries (JCPDI) fit within Vision 2030 and The Royal Commission?

RCJY follows a customer-driven approach by targeting specific industries in which we have a competitive advantage. In doing so, we ensure the highest synergy between our tenants.  Furthermore, we have analyzed in great detail our competitive capabilities and value proposition elements for each sector. These factors are specific to each city for each priority sector and include: cost competitiveness (such as raw material availability, factor costs, incentives, and access to attractive financing schemes); cities enablers (such as advanced Infrastructure, R&D facilities, tailored industrial academic and technical training facilities); customer reach (such as export capabilities); capitalizing on our cities’ strategic geographical location in busy trading hubs, capturing the Arabian Gulf Coast (our proximity to Asia); and the Red sea coast (our proximity to Europe and Africa). In addition to this and to further add to the value proposition, each city also provides high-quality, comprehensive community services, which include housing, education, healthcare, and social and leisure facilities. For Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries (JCPDI), we focus on sectors such as refining, downstream chemicals, downstream minerals and metals, food processing, building materials, and machinery and equipment. To further complement the value proposition and competitiveness of JCPDI, we recently inaugurated Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries Port (JCPDI PORT). This port will provide a gateway to Africa and serve the targeted sectors and cater to Chinese investors. We continually strive to enhance these competitive capabilities and value proposition elements and have embarked on a program of initiatives to provide an even better environment to support FDI in each of our cities.

What are your priorities for the year ahead?

RCJY has a central role in the industrial and economic landscape of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We have identified our Strategical Goals in the context of the competitive environment in which we operate and to the vital national strategies such as Vision 2030, National Industrial Strategy, and National Mining Strategy. In the context of the industry profile and value proposition, we plan to: grow the existing industrial base and develop new sectors to attract industrial SMEs; attract and develop emerging technology investors; and provide enabling value proposition and best-in-class service delivery.

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