Arab News, Wednesday, Apr 14, 2021 | Ramadan 2, 1442
SABIC unit aims to ramp up investment support for industrial SMEs
Saudi Arabia:
Nusaned Investment, the localization initiative from Saudi Basic Industries Corp
(SABIC), was set up in 2018 as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan to
diversify the non-oil economy by encouraging the growth of local companies and
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industrial sector.
“We connect potential investors to the program,” Faisal Al-Buhair, vice
president local content and business development and CEO of Nusaned, told Arab
News. “Once they register with the Entema platform, which is the opportunity
gate at Nusaned, we take them through the investor’s journey.”
Last year 106 Saudi entrepreneurs qualified for Nusaned’s program. The screening
of proposed investments is an important step in ensuring that the program
focuses on the right candidates and those with the ability to scale up and have
national impact.
“An important criteria in our screening process is that the investment needs to
support the National Industry Strategy sectors and thereby add value to Saudi
Vision 2030,” Al-Buhair said. “In any case, an investor who shows a high level
of commitment, knowledge, and readiness will have a higher chance of success.”
He was optimistic about the year ahead after the challenges the Kingdom had
faced because of the pandemic in 2020.
Nusaned is aiming to increase its investments in companies that are considered
to be strategic and critical industries for the Kingdom, such as automotive,
aviation, food processing and pharmaceutical/medical manufacturing.
“We are keen on investments that offer differentiated solutions, specialized
applications, and advanced technology to help the Kingdom enhance its
competitiveness in local and export markets,” Al-Buhair said.
So far the program has more than 33 investments in the execution phase, of which
14 are already in operation. These investments have an expected annualized gross
domestic impact of over $500 million and the potential to create more than 2,000
jobs.
This week Nusaned signed an investment agreement with the Saudi Pallet
Manufacturing Company (SPMC) to promote the local production of plastic pallets.
The funding will help SPMC to accelerate its product development, ramp up
production, and expand its product reach regionally and globally.
“The partnership with SABIC will enable SPMC to serve the fast-moving consumer
goods market by producing technologically advanced and patented multi-use
plastic pallets from its manufacturing facility in Dammam,” Omar Al-Shawaf, SPMC
CEO, said in a press statement.