Industry-Specific Reforms > Utilities and Public Services

  • The procedures for extending utilities to industrial establishments are cumbersome, lengthy, and costly.
  • Industrial areas lack in services such as transport, health facilities, shops, and restaurants.
  • Pricing of different energy products for industrial establishments does not follow any uniform standard; pricing schemes vary according to the nature of the industrial sector.
  • The high price of natural gas has a negative impact on industrial competitiveness (particularly for steel factories); the domestic gas price reached $7/million British thermal unit compared to $3/million British thermal unit in the global market.

Industry-Specific Reforms > Petroleum and Mining Industry

  • The committe that is headed by the Minister of Planning and Economic Development and includes the Minister of Local Development should continue operating to develop a clear and well thought out
  • strategy that is centered on the national needs and priorities, promotes vertical integration in the mining sector and value-added production of minerals, and takes into account the resource abundance and scarcity. In this regard, it should be recognized that the responsibility for and interest in these resources go beyond the purview of the Ministry of Petroleum or the Mineral Resources Authority), management of mineral resources is a state-wide matter, and all efforts have to be directed towards maximizing the state’s resources