World facing challenge of meeting growing demand for minerals, says Alkhorayef

Bandar Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources

There is a challenge in meeting the growing global demand for minerals due to the trends in advanced industry, as well as ambitions of clean energy and net-zero emissions, said Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources.  

In his speech at the Future Minerals Forum, held in Riyadh today, Jan. 12, Alkhorayef said the Kingdom aims, through this event, to contribute to responding to the future needs of the mining sector, through gathering the stakeholders, including governments, investors, financial institutions, service providers and manufacturers, as well as providing them with a platform for cooperation.   

He added that this will be through boosting the contribution of this promising sector, noting that the Kingdom has a great opportunity to contribute to providing the vital minerals and benefiting from the mining sector to be a key economic driver in the region.

The Kingdom is witnessing a transition at all aspects, in line with Vision 2030 which focuses on developing minerals through the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), as well as making the mining sector the third pillar of national industries.

Alkhorayef further said Kingdom's mineral wealth is estimated at $1.3 trillion, noting that the Kingdom plans to raise the contribution of the mining sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) to $64 billion by 2030.