The Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Mining Affairs confirmed that the Kingdom is on its way to becoming a global supplier of hydrogen and a center for green minerals and highly competitive manufacturing, in addition to enabling the development of mineral industries in the region by attracting investment, spreading digital and advanced technologies, and applying high standards on sustainability performance. .
During his speech at the round table meeting held on the sidelines of the meetings of the Saudi-South African Joint Committee held in Pretoria, South Africa, Eng. Khalid Al-Mudaifer explained that there are great benefits that can accrue to the public and private sectors in both the Kingdom and South Africa, especially in light of the close ties and common interests between the two countries.
He pointed out that the Kingdom’s experience in the mining sector is relatively new compared to South Africa’s long history in extracting minerals and its rich experiences in this field, stressing that the Kingdom possesses great potentials in the field of oil and petrochemicals, which would provide opportunities for exchanging experiences and strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
He emphasized the promising areas of cooperation not only in exploration, technology and operations, but in other areas such as negotiation and management of relations with major international companies for commodities, trade and value development in the fields of products and businesses adjacent to the production of minerals.
He stated that the Kingdom’s geographical location is a strategic gateway where East meets West, allowing access to European and Asian industry, and South Africa is the gateway to southern Africa, linking the Americas and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
And he indicated that the amount of minerals required in the next 10, 20 and 30 years will be unprecedented, due to the transformation of energy and strategic industrial sectors such as electric and military vehicles and outer space, as the Kingdom is working to develop giant projects for refining and processing iron, steel and green minerals, integrated with factories. Hydrogen was created by ACWA Power Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest and most environmentally responsible companies.