Saudi Arabia's first foreign business industrial complex project, the "Saudi and Korean Industrial Complex (SKIV)," is speeding up its construction work with the aim of starting operations in the first half of next year. It has been confirmed that Korean small and medium-sized enterprises participating in SKIV have recently completed land and infrastructure design work and have begun building factories, including machinery and facilities.
Faisal Abdulaziz, CEO of Saudi International Industrial Complex (SIVC), recently said in an e-mail interview with Maeil Economy, "Korean small and medium-sized enterprises participating in SKIV have recently completed land and infrastructure design work at an industrial complex located in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. We are currently working on civil, architectural, and electrical design for the construction of each company's factories."
SKIV, which has an initial investment of about 7.8 trillion won, is the core of the Vision 2030 project that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is pushing to break away from the oil-oriented economic structure.
Currently, the fastest-paced place is Yumin Etsy, a company specializing in hazardous chemical disaster prevention solutions. Yumin ST produces electronic printed circuit-based film-type liquid detection sensors that detect leakage of dangerous liquids. Currently, we have started pilot testing sensor products in Saudi Arabia. Liquid detection sensors are evaluated not only to reduce the risk of disasters caused by leakage at industrial sites such as oil refineries and chemical plants, but also to minimize losses caused by leaks in water pipes in the Middle East and Africa suffering from water shortages. "We will supply sensor products to Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco, Saudi Water Resources Corporation (NWC), and Sabic, the largest petrochemical company in the Middle East," said Lee Ho-chul, chairman of Yumin STC.
A bird's eye view of the 'Saudi and Korean Industrial Complex (SKIV)' being built in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. SIIVC
Nostar Composite, which produces composite gas containers, passed Savic's investment verification in February. Recently, the construction design of factories and office buildings to manufacture composite gas containers in Jajan has been completed. It will build 1.6 million composite gas containers annually and sell them throughout the Middle East and Africa. "The Middle East and Africa, where city gas supply is not available, mainly use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) containers," said Kim Ki-dong, CEO of Nostar Composite. "We will produce safe composite gas containers by receiving raw materials from Savic at an affordable price."
Esconec, which produces lithium primary batteries that can be used for a long time, recently obtained quality and stability certification from the Saudi Standard & Poor's (SASO). Currently, design completion work is underway with SIIVC to build a factory where the joint venture will move in. "Major customers in Saudi Arabia are conducting field tests for lithium primary batteries to be produced by local joint ventures," said Kang Dong-kyun, vice president of Esconec. "The supply plan will take shape soon."
Asta, an in vitro diagnostic medical device company, is also in the final stage of plant design in cooperation with SIIVC. The company expects all procedures to be completed to obtain approval from the Saudi Investment Authority within this month. "We have submitted data on business and marketing plans required by the Saudi Investment Agency," Asta Vice Chairman Cho Eung-soo said. "We are conducting final consultations with SIVC on Saudi investment practices." When the final investment is approved by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) and funding begins, a factory that produces a total of 800 state-of-the-art in vitro diagnostic medical devices, including cloud MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers, will be built in Jazan. It is planned to be completed in the second half of next year and to start local sales in 2026.
Based in Saudi Arabia, Myco BioMed is planning to secure a distribution network for in vitro diagnostic medical devices and expand sales in the Middle East and Africa, where growth potential is high. Orion NES, a company specializing in smart windo films, plans to build a smart factory for smart windo films, high-function window films, and the production of bonded, double-layered glass, and windows using them through this project. Medican has completed the establishment of 'Saudi Medican', a local joint venture (JV). Lee Hee-young, CEO of Medican, said, "Through the Saudi-Korea industrial complex project, we will dramatically develop stem cell separation and culture systems as well as stem cell treatment technologies in Saudi Arabia."
[Reporter Yang]
