Saudi non-oil exports to reach SAR 2.5 trln by 2030: Al-Falih

Saudi Arabia plans to increase non-oil exports from roughly SAR 200 billion currently, to SAR 2.5 trillion by 2030, energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Tuesday.

The Kingdom also plans to increase the GDP contribution from sectors such as chemicals, manufacturing, mining, and logistics from the current SAR 500 billion to SAR 1.7 trillion by 2030, Al-Falih said, speaking at the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) forum in Dubai.

The targets, he said, need to be achieved by a growth in value and not only volume.

For its part, Saudi Arabia intends to create further value from its existing base by integrating chemical plants with the rest of the industrial ecosystem.

Earlier this week, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) entered into a deal to develop a fully integrated crude oil to chemicals complex in the Kingdom.

The complex is expected to process 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil, which will produce approximately 9 million tons of chemicals and base oils annually, Al-Falih said.

He added that there is a need in the Gulf region to increase the proportion of primary chemicals converted locally, in order to boost the industry.

For this, both local and international customers should be encouraged to establish manufacturing operations here in the region, Al-Falih said.

“Despite its leadership position in oil and gas resources and production, our region here in the gulf can claim only 2 percent of the world's $4 trillion a year in chemicals revenue,” he added.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com