Saudi Arabia is set to strengthen regional industrial ties by teaming up with Tunisia in a series of joint ventures, a senior Saudi official has said.
Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the United Nations Multilateral Forum on Industrial Policy in Riyadh, the Kingdom’s Deputy Minister of Industry, Khalil bin Salamah, confirmed the forthcoming cooperation with Tunisia, saying it was now a matter of choosing which products to start with and how to proceed.
“It is not a question of whether there will be cooperation or not, but there will be because no one can succeed alone. Sustainable success and growth is the result of cooperation,” he stressed, adding that Riyadh is in talks with two neighboring Arab countries to integrate policies that could boost industries such as pharmaceuticals.
Rather than focusing solely on the production of specific products, the countries aim to align their industrial policies first, creating a common platform that can then be applied to different products.
“So, each group of countries will focus on different products, but with the same policy platform. We want to capture these common policies before they are translated into products and keep them at that level between countries,” said Bin Salamah.
This shift is seen as crucial to expanding the Kingdom’s industrial base and supporting the goals of its Vision 2030.
“When I look at Tunisia, even from previous experience, there is the phosphate industry, there is electricity generation,” said the deputy minister, underlining Saudi Arabia’s commitment to regional cooperation as part of its broader industrial strategy.
He added: “When we talk about APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients), one country is Egypt (and a potential country could be Jordan) because of the maturity of drug manufacturing. But now we need to use chemicals, especially fine chemicals, to turn them into APIs to meet our country’s needs for medicines”.
The deputy minister also highlighted a broader vision of industrial cooperation, such as in the automotive industry, where countries such as the UAE, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt are already contributing various components and skills.
“We already have a number of interested countries. In terms of components, the UAE is already present. In Morocco, the industrialization is very good. In Tunisia and Egypt, there is good integration, no duplication, but added value,” said Bin Salamah.
Phosphate and energy
With regard to Tunisia, the deputy minister stressed that cooperation would not be limited to the automotive industry, a key sector, but would extend to other high-potential sectors, in particular phosphates and energy production.
He emphasized the “human capital” aspect of the cooperation, highlighting the potential for sharing expertise and developing the workforce between the two countries.
Bin Salamah said Saudi Arabia’s industrial strategy was shifting from basic and intermediate chemicals to downstream sectors, including fine chemicals and APIs.
Promising Tunisian sectors for investment
Tunisia’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Fatma Thabet Chiboub, confirmed this cooperation, saying that her country has a particular type of mining resource that could be the subject of investment by Saudi Arabia.
“This is part of the discussions we have had. I think the automotive components sector could be one of the promising sectors for investment, and the pharmaceutical industry could also be a fruitful area for cooperation between the two parties,” she told Arab News.
She added: “Tunisia has significant advantages in the health sector, both in services and manufacturing.
Tunisia has significant competitive advantages and skilled professionals, many of whom have been working in Saudi Arabia for about 50 years”.
However, she pointed out that despite the resources available in the Kingdom, the current level of investment in Tunisia does not reflect the full potential of the relationship between the two countries.
She added: “As Arab countries, our goal should be deeper integration and cooperation, which is the main objective of this forum – to strengthen cooperation and promote greater unity among Arab nations”.
In terms of promising sectors, Tunisia is open to foreign investment in all industries, particularly food, metallurgy, textiles, clothing, automotive and aerospace components, and pharmaceuticals.
“We continue to encourage foreign and local investment. We consider foreign investment to be equivalent to domestic investment under Tunisian investment law, which offers foreign investors the same preferential advantages as Tunisian investors,” says Chiboub.
