Crown Prince launches National Industrial Development and Logistics Program

Saudi Arabia’s Council of Economic Development Affairs (CEDA) on Monday officially launched the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), in the presence of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Center for International Communication (CIC) said.

NIDLP is one of 13 Vision Realization Programs and is considered to be the largest and most impactful program under Saudi Vision 2030, the statement added.

NIDLP’s objective is to transform Saudi Arabia into an industrial powerhouse and a global leader in logistical services by integrating growth across the four key sectors of mining, industry, logistics and energy.

#NIDLP | Crown Prince #MohammedBinSalman arrives at the @eMILEforum pic.twitter.com/VycBo83hlF

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) January 28, 2019

Part of a wider drive to drive foreign direct investment (FDI) and boost exports, the program will pave the way for unprecedented industrial growth while reducing reliance on imports and increasing the GDP contribution of the program’s four core sectors.

By 2030, the program aims to boost the contribution of these four sectors to $320 billion; stimulate investments worth more than $426 billion in the target sectors; increase the volume of non-oil exports to over $260 billion, as well as adding 1.6 million new jobs to the labor market.

During the launch event, 37 agreements worth USD 53 billion were signed and 29 other agreements worth $960 million were announced. These are in addition to more than 25 agreements that were signed during the Future Investment Initiative 2018, with a total value of around $210 billion, of which $165 billion are under the NIDLP program.

A total of 34 government agencies are working to implement more than 300 initiatives under the program, of which more than 130 - with a total value of $16 billion - aim to deliver rapid growth in 2019.

Several of these initiatives focus on updating policies and regulations to quicken development and achieve tangible results within the next 90 days.

The program focuses on promoting industrial development through policy and regulation development, human capacity building and research and innovation focused on the fourth industrial revolution, which will accelerate growth and attract large-scale investments from the region and further afield.