Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef, chairman of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), has launched on Sunday the Saudi Advanced Manufacturing Hub (Saudi AMHUB) strategy, aimed at positioning Saudi Arabia at the global forefront of industrial innovation and advanced manufacturing.

The SIDF CEO Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mojel states that Saudi AMHUB has 24 core champions from the public, private and academic sectors, and its strategy is to promote Kingdom’s industrial sector towards adopting advanced manufacturing.

In addition to that, it will be strengthening links between investors and providers of advanced technologies globally and enabling the local industrial sector to use such advanced technologies.

Abdulaziz Al Zaid, CEO’s advisor and in charge of international organizations at SIDF, pointed out that the Saudi AMHUB strategy aims to provide practical solutions to enable the advanced industry in the Kingdom that will help raise the operational and financial efficiency of factories.

He added that the Saudi AMHUB strategy is based on what was set as its three priorities which are to enable national cadres in the public, private and academic sectors to adapt to the new landscape of the developments in the industrial sector, support the efforts of SMEs in their journeys towards digital transformation, and transfer technologies and best practices with the Global Network of Advanced Manufacturing Hubs.

The strategy lays out three key priorities for the knowledge-sharing platform. First, access to talent, skills gaps, and lack of incentives for workers; this is led by KFUPM. The second priority, which is led by Obeikan Investment Group, is supporting SMEs in their digital transformation journey.

The third priority is enabling technology transfer and innovations to upgrade manufacturing facilities and is led by SABIC. The strategy envisions a range of practical measures to be taken in pursuit of these priorities, including the introduction of new certifications, collaborative training with industry partners, and the ramping up of R&D capabilities.

Saudi AMHUB’s strategy is the result of a collaborative effort by its membership of leading institutions from the fields of government, the private sector, and academia. Known as Core Champions, their work within Saudi AMHUB will allow the country to accelerate its efforts to adapt to its digital future of advanced, high added-value manufacturing and production.

In addition to these key priorities, Saudi AMHUB will seek to advance issues such as the industry’s alignment with global ESG criteria and the improvement of coordination between CEO’s and leadership of domestic manufacturing companies.

In addition, the World Economic Forum is the leading global entity driving the adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques, and it establishes and oversees the framework by which platform participants interact in mutually beneficial ways.

Saudi AMHUB is part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Network of Advanced Manufacturing Hubs — regional centers of collaboration, aimed at tackling some of global industry’s most pressing challenges in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Saudi AMHUB is the 14th such institution to be established globally.