Manufacturing

A strong non-oil industrial push—fuelled by Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Strategy and the UAE’s Operation 300 Bn—is stoking capacity expansion just as feed-stock and logistics prices remain volatile. World-class procurement—clean-sheet raw-material costing, indexed energy contracts, and multi-vendor equipment tenders—releases cash for smart-factory upgrades, robotics, and additive manufacturing. Manufacturers that lock in cost discipline today will have the capital to fund tomorrow’s Industry 4.0 roll-outs without denting EBITDA. 

 

Localisation targets are tightening in tandem. Licences, concessional finance, and land grants increasingly hinge on in-Kingdom content ratios, national-workforce quotas, and SME supplier development. By embedding local-content weighting in RFQs, co-investing with domestic fabricators, and nurturing tier-2 Saudi/Emirati suppliers, manufacturers convert compliance into strategic advantage—securing faster permit cycles, preferential tariffs, and brand equity as national champions. 

 

Finally, resilience is a make-or-break KPI after pandemic shocks and semiconductor shortages. Leading GCC plants diversify alloy and component sources, establish bonded spare-parts hubs, and run AI supply-risk dashboards flagging shortages weeks in advance. When these tactics are anchored in a disciplined operating model—digital approvals, clear RACIs, and live KPI scorecards—procurement shifts from reactive expediting to proactive value creation.