A new report states that Saudi Arabia is in negotiations with Jaguar Land Rover for a production line in Yanbu, an industrial city, following an initial agreement signed last year.
The National reports that the Indian-owned company “can count on Saudi government investment of close to US$1 billion and some of the world’s cheapest aluminium. Senior industrial figures in Saudi Arabia are confident that a deal will be in place before the year is out.”
The news comes on the heels of an announcement by the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council that it would be hosting an automotive conference in Michigan this Summer.
H.E. Tawfiq al Rabiah, the Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry, is listed as a confirmed speaker of the event, which will “bring together senior Saudi Government officials, major Saudi industrialists, and leading OEMs to highlight the advantages of doing business in the Middle East’s largest car market” in Birmingham, Michigan.
In 2010, King Saud University (KSU) signed an agreement with a Korean car manufacturing company to “set up a plant in Riyadh with initial capital of $500 million to build the Kingdom’s first car, dubbed as ‘Sedan 1,’” the Saudi Gazette reported at the time.
As SUSTG‘s sister site SUSRIS notes in a report earlier this week, “Saudi Arabia is the largest importer of cars and automotive parts in the Middle East and is a gateway for distribution to the broader Middle East and North Africa region.”
The flurry of activity is consistent with H.E. Al-Rabiah’s goal of improving Saudi Arabia’s manufacturing and industrial development.
