17 industry localization, knowledge transfer deals signed in 2023: LCGPA

Abdulrahman Al Samari, CEO of Local Content and Government Procurement Authority

A total of 17 industry localization and knowledge transfer agreements were signed in 2023 with investments worth more than SAR 12 billion, said Abdulrahman Al Samari, CEO of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority (LCGPA).

In an interview with Argaam on the sidelines of the ceremony honoring the winners of the second Local Content Awards, Al Samari said that the LCGPA worked with its partners from the private sector on some localization opportunities over the past years and continues to create greater opportunities for the private sector.

He went on to say that the LCGPA targets all strategic sectors, just as Vision 2030 does, including industry, tourism, entertainment, and mining.

“There are sectors with high spending from the state’s budget that are priorities for us, such as construction, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and equipment,” Al Samari said, adding that the authority is working on all these sectors and ensuring that they are empowered through local content tools and mechanisms.

He stressed that the authority has a mandatory list that covers more than 14 sectors with 800 products, which will exceed 1,000 products in 2024, so that sectors with high spending from government agencies will be covered.

The CEO also stated that one of the guiding and basic principles that LCGPA worked on when developing the local content policy was that it should be appealing to investors and not consider the company's nationality, but rather the value added to the economy.

He confirmed that all foreign companies are welcome to work in the Kingdom, seize localization opportunities, and invest in local capabilities by leveraging all the local content tools and mechanisms provided by the authority through its policies and regulations.

The authority has begun working on several opportunities that it has provided with its partners from around the world to localize some products, according to the official.

Asked about his expectations for investment opportunities in local content for this year, Al Samari said that the authority began a new phase this year, which is the institutional strategy for the next five years.

He explained that, during this year, the authority aims to activate this strategy at various levels and continue to focus on the government sector as one of the main drivers of spending in the Kingdom, as well as increase compliance rates from government agencies, and reach the local content in government procurements to the level of 46%.

The CEO added that the authority continues its work with state-owned companies, reaching integrated cooperation with more than 180 companies and measuring the local content in them as well.

The path of individuals is a key part of the economic process and in achieving local content goals, which can be influenced less by policies. However, the authority focuses on raising their awareness and clarifying the impact of their spending on changing their behavior as consumers in the local economy by directing and pushing them towards relevant national services and products that contribute to local content elements, Al Samari explained.

The mechanisms set by the authority covered, to some extent, most of the purchasing mechanisms, said the official, adding that the process is constantly improving by examining the effectiveness of these tools and mechanisms.

He added that it is possible to develop any new tool this year whenever the authority finds it feasible and useful to achieve goals in local content.