A good indication of the Government’s determination to expand the industrial base of the economy and a measure of the Government’s success are the loans disbursed by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF). SIDF, which was set up in 1974, is a Government agency charged with the responsibility of providing a source of funds to private sector industries and public utility companies. The total loans approved for industrial projects, from its creation until 2001, amounted to SR40.3 billion. These loans have helped in the establishment of some 1,668 industrial projects, such as building materials, cement, chemicals, foodstuffs, minerals and other essential products – and export of the surplus products.
Behind these figures lies King Fahd’s sustained strategy of reducing Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil. It is a daunting task. Saudi Arabia possesses 25% of the world’s oil reserves and, therefore, the economy must remain oil-based in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, by judicious use of the oil revenues, the Government of Saudi Arabia is expanding the industrial base and other economic sectors, and gradually reducing the degree of dependence.
