25/09/2016 06:05 AST
The private sector has paid a “significant contribution” to the growth of the GCC’s computer and electronic products manufacturing sector, which posted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% estimated at $395mn in 2011 to $476mn in 2015, Goic said in a report.
The report revealed that the computer and electronic products manufacturing industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council “improved remarkably” in the last few years.
According to Goic data, Saudi Arabia is leading the GCC in terms of investments in the computer and electronic products manufacturing industry, amounting to $376mn in 2015.
This accounts for about three quarters of the total GCC investments in the computer and electronic products manufacturing industry in the Gulf. The UAE ranked second with 14% of the investments, Goic said.
On the other hand, investments in the computer and electronic devices manufacturing industry in 2015 were distributed among 75 factories out of 16,890 in the GCC industrial sector, which represents 0.4% of the total number of factories. Computer and electronic devices factories showed a 9.6% annual increase between 2011 and 2015, Goic said.
In 2015, the total number of computer and electronic devices factories stood at 75, with Saudi Arabia topping the list with 41, followed by the UAE with 16. During the same period, the industry created 7,147 job opportunities in the GCC markets, which represents 0.4% of the total job opportunities in the gulf industrial sector.
“Therefore, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have a lot of investments in the computer and electronic devices sector and markets still present opportunities for Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait for further investments in this domain,” Goic said.
But Goic secretary general Abdulaziz bin Hamad al-Ageel noted that the industry still accounts for only “a small percentage” (0.12%) of the total investments in the GCC industrial sector for the same year, estimated at $393.7bn.
Al-Ageel said the computer and electronic products manufacturing sector is still a relatively new entrant in the GCC industrial sector and is still in its early stages despite the presence of a huge domestic market in the Gulf countries.
“There is an urgent need for the GCC countries to elaborate national plans and policies to strengthen the enabling environment for the information and communications technology that will increase the private sector investments in the information and communications technology like computers and electronic devices manufacturing industry.
“It is also important to promote joint investments and cooperation between GCC countries and to launch research and development projects relating to this industry on the regional level. GCC countries should focus on computer and electronic equipment to manage various activities related to economy, trade, production, finance, marketing and human resource management, as well as education and training. Therefore they become the pillar of the strategy aiming at achieving economic sustainable development in the GCC countries,” al-Ageel said.
In terms of investment size, the magnetics and visual devices segment was the largest at $132mn, representing 27.8% of the total GCC investments in this sector in 2015. This was followed by the communication equipment industry with $109mn, or 22.9%.
The communication equipment industry also employed 2,895 workers in 2015 or 40% of the total workforce, followed by the magnetic and visual devices industry with 1,669 workers or 23%.
Gulf Times
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