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    DuVolks

    Sector guide / Saudi Arabia

    Manufacturing & Industry.
    From your product
    to production.

    Define what you will make, choose the right factory location and plan the approvals before production.

    Find your starting pointPlan my setup

    A planning guide—not an industrial approval.

    01 / Your starting point

    Activity & ownership

    Identify the product, manufacturing process and proposed owners before choosing the route.

    Foreign ownership

    Use the investment-registration route for the proposed manufacturing activity and owners; product-specific restrictions and approvals are assessed separately.

    Ownership routes

    Saudi / GCC ownership

    Follow the applicable formation route. MISA registration is not a blanket requirement for Saudi/GCC-only businesses.

    Company registration

    Capital & costs

    Plan for the factory, equipment, production capacity and operating needs. This page does not impose a blanket non-trading MISA capital threshold.

    Plan the first-year budget

    02 / Formation to delivery

    Setup route

    Check industrial, environmental and site requirements early—not only after company formation. Check authorities & permits before committing.

    Initial industrial licence ≠ permission to produce.

    Complete the applicable production-stage, site and product requirements before manufacturing.

    1. 01

      Activity & owners

      Choose the activities the company will actually carry out and the correct ownership route.

      Working towards

      Defined product & process

      DuVolks

      Find an activity
    2. 02

      Investment registration

      For the foreign-investment route, complete the relevant MISA registration. Saudi/GCC-only routes follow their applicable formation process.

      Working towards

      MISA registration, where applicable

      MISA

      MISA guide
    3. 03

      Company formation

      Complete the company documents and commercial registration with the selected activities.

      Working towards

      Company documents & CR

      Saudi Business Center / Ministry of Commerce

      Registration guide
    4. 04

      Factory site

      Complete the applicable municipal or industrial-site approvals.

      Working towards

      Applicable site approvals

      Municipality / site authority

      Check the site route
    5. 05

      Industrial production

      Obtain the relevant MIM industrial approval and fulfil the production-stage requirements before manufacturing.

      Working towards

      Production-stage requirements met

      MIM

      Check industrial licensing

    These are planning milestones, not a fixed approval sequence. Initial industrial licensing and site/environmental checks may be needed before construction or fit-out. Confirm dependencies for your project.

    03 / Operating checks

    People & premises

    Choose a site that supports the process—not just an available building.

    Before the lease or fit-out

    Factory location & layout

    Confirm the competent site authority and whether your proposed activity is permitted.

    • Production flow and machinery
    • Power, water and utility capacity
    • Materials, storage and vehicle access
    • Waste, emissions and safety needs

    Preparation prompts, not a universal approval checklist.

    Check approvals early

    Review the site and environmental route before works. The applicable authority can differ by location.

    Authorities & permits

    Planning your operation

    Nitaqat (Saudization)

    Plan both your entity’s Nitaqat position and the rules for the jobs you will hire.

    Your activity and team determine the Nitaqat check. Engineering and other profession-specific Saudization rules are separate; meeting a Nitaqat band does not replace them.

    Your team & Saudization

    Nitaqat: your entity’s workforce

    Nitaqat assesses the entity’s workforce using its registered economic activity and employee figures. A broad sector name alone does not determine the required percentage. Use the Nitaqat planner with your Qiwa activity and workforce.

    Profession-specific Saudization

    Profession-specific Saudization is a separate check. The applicable decision may depend on the occupation, covered workforce, workplace and effective date. Meeting a Nitaqat band does not replace this check.

    Roles to check: engineering, technical, procurement, warehouse and administrative roles. These are prompts for your hiring plan, not a statement that every listed role has the same quota.

    Calculate my Nitaqat planCheck profession Saudization

    Use the tool’s scope, effective date and source notes. These links do not transfer or infer your activity, headcount or job codes.

    HRSD — Nitaqat calculator ↗HRSD — decisions and regulations ↗

    Baladi (Municipality) — Commercial Activity License

    Your exact activity and premises determine the requirements. Check the Balady activity record before leasing or fitting out.

    • Confirm whether the factory sits in a municipal area or an industrial zone with its own site authority.
    • Check the proposed process, layout, storage, safety and product permissions with the industrial and site authorities before fit-out.
    Your premises & municipality requirements

    Check the premises requirements before signing a lease or starting fit-out.

    Planning prompts, not a complete activity-code licensing checklist. Confirm the exact requirements in Balady and with the relevant site authority. Area and room-size figures are not provided in this overview.

    Check the activity in Balady ↗Find my ISIC activity code

    In Balady, choose ISIC search, enter the activity code and select the detailed activity. This link opens the official lookup; it does not preselect a code or provide a live feed to this page.

    04 / Competent authorities

    Authorities & permits

    Match each permission to the process, location and product. One approval does not replace the others.

    Ministry of Industry & Mineral Resources (MIM)

    Industrial licensing

    Establishment & production stages

    For the proposed manufacturing activity.

    The initial industrial licence supports establishment; it does not authorise production. Confirm the required stage and conditions with MIM before manufacturing.

    MIM industrial licence service ↗
    Municipality / MODON / relevant site authority

    Factory site

    Site, building & operating approvals

    Depends on the factory location and site jurisdiction.

    Confirm permitted use and approvals before leasing or fit-out. For a MODON site, check its plans and operating-licence requirements; do not assume the municipal route is identical.

    MODON services guide (PDF) ↗
    National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC)

    Environmental permits

    Construction & operating permits

    Assess the process, impact category and competent jurisdiction.

    Check the construction-stage permission before works and the operating-stage requirements before production. Studies and supporting evidence depend on the project category.

    NCEC construction permit example (Arabic) ↗
    Civil Defense / competent site authority

    Safety approval

    Applicable safety licence & checks

    Confirm the issuing route for the location and industrial process.

    Review fire protection, storage and facility safety during design. Complete the applicable inspections and safety requirements before operation.

    Civil Defense safety services ↗
    SFDA / SASO, where applicable

    Product approvals

    Facility licensing & product conformity

    Depends on what you manufacture and place on the market.

    Check SFDA requirements for regulated output, such as food. Separately check applicable SASO technical regulations and Saber conformity routes. These are not interchangeable permissions.

    SFDA licensing services ↗Saber — Local manufacturers ↗
    Company formation ≠ permission to manufacture.

    Confirm the industrial stage, site, environmental, safety and product requirements. Do not begin production on the strength of an initial industrial licence.

    Selected authority checks, not an exhaustive list. Special processes, materials and regulated products can involve additional conditions.

    05 / Your next step

    Prepare your factory brief

    Four useful prompts. Local reading aid only; nothing is saved or sent.

    0 of 4 prompts reviewed

    DuVolks / Practical support

    Turn the product into a setup plan.

    Tell us what you will manufacture and where. We review the route and agree the support we can provide. Authorities make the approval decisions.

    Discuss my manufacturing plan

    06 / Official references

    Sources & scope

    Official sources & scope7 official references · review scope

    Base sector guidance: 5 October 2026.
    Targeted authority review: 14 October 2026.

    Planning overview, not a complete technical, environmental or legal audit. Confirm current requirements with the competent authority for your project.

    HRSD and Balady references appear with their checks above. MIM, MODON and Civil Defense references were checked through indexed official material; direct retrieval was unavailable. Confirm current application conditions before committing.

    Discuss Your Structure