Title: Economy & Global Trade | The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Headings: Economy & Global Trade
About Saudi Arabia
Economy & Global Trade
Building a modern economy
Industrial Cities
Development Plans
Government Support for the Private Sector
Banking
Trade

Content: Industrial Cities
While Saudi Arabia’s economic base continues to be dominated by oil, the Kingdom has taken steps to diversify the economy. Today, industrial products make up more than 90 percent of the Kingdom’s non-oil exports. Saudi Arabia exports petrochemicals, plastics, metal goods, construction materials and electrical appliances to some 90 countries. Petrochemical and other oil-based industries are concentrated at industrial cities in major urban centers. These plants use natural gas and natural gas liquids that were previously flared, as well as refined products from the oil industry to manufacture products that would in turn feed non-oil industries. Concentration on industrial plants in specific areas also facilitates the provision of vital support services, such as water, power and transportation. The Jubail Industrial City on the Arabian Gulf has dozens of factories and industrial facilities, including a desalination plant, a seaport, a vocational training institute and a college. The Yanbu Industrial City on the Red Sea has a modern port, refineries, a petrochemical complex and many manufacturing and support enterprises. The government offered incentives for the establishment of private companies at the industrial cities. The Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), created in 1976, set up non-oil industrial facilities that use as feedstock natural gas and natural gas liquids manufactured by the oil industry.