Following the signing of investment agreements worth SR232 million ($61.8 million) by the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones, the production of chocolate, yogurt, and fish will rise in Saudi Arabia.
The company, also known as MODON, has won seven contracts totaling 99,400 square meters, mostly benefiting the food and beverage industry in the Kingdom.
During the inaugural iteration of the Saudi Food 2023 show, MODON also finalized two additional agreements to help streamline financing options while encouraging and enabling entrepreneurship.
In the words of Executive Vice President of Business Development at MODON Ali Al-Omeir, these agreements are in line with the goals of the National Industrial Strategies and Saudi Vision 2023, aimed at accomplishing food security for the Kingdom and luring investment projects worth $20 billion into the sector by 2035, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency.
One of the latest investment agreements is for the SR140 million manufacturing of milk and fresh yogurt on 27,400 square meters of industrial land in Jeddah’s Third Industrial City.
Additionally, a space of 25,027 square meters has been designated in Qassim’s Second Industrial City for an SR22 million investment in the production of cocoa, chocolate, and confectionery goods.
Another SR10 million contract was signed, allocating 11,051 square meters in Jeddah’s Third Industrial City for the localization of the fish preservation business and fish products. A separate SR11.8 million contract was signed, allocating 7,400 square meters for the drying, smoking, and salting of fish and fish products.
There was also a contract worth SR40 million to set aside 16,500 square meters at Sudair City for Industry and Business for the production of food boxes, medications, perfumes, and dishes, among other things.
In February of this year, MODON signed contracts and memorandums of understanding for localizing the food and beverage sector in Saudi Arabia with investments up to SR1 billion. This was done on the sidelines of the Gulfood Exhibition 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Additionally, it showed that by the end of 2022, there would be 1,171 food factories with a combined total size of almost 10 million square meters.