Saudi Arabia’s trade minister has unveiled the first “made in KSA” truck during a ceremony in the kingdom’s eastern city of Dammam.
Tawfiq al-Rabee'a, the trade and industry minister and the director general of the Saudi Industrial Property Authority “Modon,” drove the truck, the International Isuzu company’s first product inside the kingdom.
Foreign diplomats, government officials, executives and prominent businessmen attended at the inauguration.
“I feel very happy and proud to have driven today a vehicle that is made in Saudi Arabia,” al-Rabee’a said in statements to al-Riyadh Newspaper.
“It is a part of the dream about the kingdom’s industrialization, and this step will lead to the achievement of that dream,” he added.
“The rate of the industrial growth has doubled in the last 15 years due to our hard work on enhancing the highly-valued industries. This process doubles the cost range of items and metal to nearly 40-times after their conversion into a real car,” al-Rabee’a said.
The Isuzu plant is mostly staffed by young Saudi engineers and technician who have studied in Japan under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program and who returned to the kingdom to help develop industrial infrastructure.
Al-Rabee’a pointed out that the setup of these manufacturing plants will create 4,000 job opportunities for young Saudis in Riyadh and 800 in Dammam. He added that Saudi Arabia has signed a deal with the British Land Rover company, to establish a manufacturing plant in Yanbu.
Al-Rabee’a said the government aims to diversify its sources of income and that investing in the industry was a strategic choice for sustainable development and creating new job opportunities for the citizens.
The Kingdom was able to attract specialized international projects to the industrial cities across the Kingdom in order to create a strong industrial base that will contribute to boosting the economic growth.
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