About Mining
Saudi Vision 2030 aims to develop the national economy and diversify its sources of income, with mining becoming the third pillar of the national industry.
Beginning of the Journey
The journey of exploring and exploiting mineral resources in the Kingdom began in 1997, when the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources developed a strategy to develop the mining sector between 1996 and 1997. This strategy aimed to search for opportunities in the mining sector. The efforts continued, leading to a qualitative leap in the mining sector following the launch of Saudi Vision 2030. This vision targets diversifying the Kingdom's economic base, with mining becoming the third pillar of the national industry. Following the vision's launch, three strategic initiatives were introduced as a starting point for developing the sector. These initiatives require conducting geological surveys of the Kingdom, identifying investment opportunities in this sector, and studying possible incentives for its development.
Mining Investment Law
One of the key recommendations of the strategy was to issue and develop a new Mining Investment Law, which aims to stimulate sector development and enhance foreign investment by reducing the tax rate to 20%. Consequently, the Kingdom became one of the most competitive mining regions globally after reducing the previous tax rate from 45%. There were no changes to the financial system after its implementation, as it focused significantly on protecting investors in line with international standards.
Specialized Institutional Unit
As an outcome of the strategy, a specialized unit was established, consisting of a team responsible for guiding the way to enhance investment in the mining sector. This unit undertakes several key tasks, including:
1. Developing the mining investment pathway by enhancing qualitative investment and ensuring the investment of a large number of companies.
2. Monitoring the impact of sector initiatives on competitiveness and sector integration.
3. Creating marketing content, investment tasks, and communicating with investors.
4. Improving, maintaining, and benchmarking tools, systems, and sectoral standards, developing a plan for the deployment of the system, and recruiting and training employees for specific functions.
5. Defining operational roadmaps and key performance indicators to enhance investment, integrate the investor's journey, and continuous improvement.
6. Enabling investment stimulation by monitoring and enhancing the Kingdom's value proposition and competitiveness, structuring investment opportunities that lead to the growth of investment opportunities, and working with existing entities and initiatives to facilitate enabling efforts in the sector.
7. Developing mineral supply chains to make mining the third pillar of the Saudi industry by utilizing the Kingdom's mineral resources, domestic demand, and accessing global markets to diversify the GDP and job growth.