Inevitably, any consideration of the Kingdom’s industrial diversification program centers on the establishment and development of large-scale State-owned industrial companies engaged in oil refining and petrochemical production.

But there is another sector, smaller but in terms of employment and in terms of the future, of considerable significance. There are some 2,000 general manufacturing companies licensed by the Government, and some 20,000 light-industrial workshops licensed by the municipalities.

Another feature of King Fahd’s strategy in seeking industrial diversification is the type of industrial projects which are appropriate to Saudi Arabia’s geography and demography. Although Saudi Arabia is vast in size, the population of the Kingdom is small, and, despite the reduction in numbers of immigrant workers in recent years, it remains true that the economy still requires a large foreign workforce to complement the indigenous population. It is not therefore appropriate for the Kingdom to encourage the development of labor-intensive industries. Rather, it favors the introduction and expansion of high-technology industrial ventures with a high productivity/worker ratio, which will provide suitably trained Saudi citizens with well-paid and challenging occupations.

Because of Government policy and support, the non-oil industrial sector has increased in both size and efficiency of operation and can now claim to have achieved output-per-worker figures which are amongst the highest in the Arab world.