Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih said on Saturday that the nation aims to bring in $427bn in investments in the next ten years through its National Industrial Development and Logistics Programme (NIDLP).
“The [NIDLP] programme targets 1.6 trillion Saudi riyals … so it is quite ambitious but it is over a 10-year period so we have got the time to do it,” Falih said at a press conference.
Investments will be focused in mining, energy, logistics and industry. This comes as the country tries to diversify its primarily oil-dependent economy and aims to boost private sector involvement in the economy. Al Falih noted that as the kingdom restructures its power industry, it will develop a power purchasing agency to separate generation from transmission and distribution.
According to Arab News, Aabed Abdullah al-Saadoun, deputy minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources said that the government would spend $27bn in 2019 and 2020 on NIDLP.
Nabeel Al Amudi, Saudi Arabia’s transport minister, said that NIDLP would start 60 initiatives in logistics, including five airports and 2000km of railways.
In a keynote speech at the NIDLP launch event, he reportedly said that 30 agreements worth just under $36bn would be announced today.
