Russian Business in Saudi Arabia

From February 8 to 10, 2026, the international industrial exhibition "Innoprom. Saudi Arabia" was held in Riyadh. Despite potential Western risks for the host country, the organizers (Formika Event company) managed to conduct a successful event.

The business program was attended by the heads of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Investment, and the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia, as well as 600 representatives of the Kingdom's leading industrial companies.

The head of the Russian delegation, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Anton Alikhanov, took part in the key business events of the INNOPROM forum during his working visit to Saudi Arabia. The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted the historic significance of the forum as the first large-scale Russian industrial exhibition in the Middle East. The minister proposed focusing joint efforts on sectors aligned with the goals of the "Saudi Vision-2030" development strategy. In this regard, specific areas for partnership were outlined.

Deputy Minister of Energy Fuad Mosa noted the Kingdom's target objectives in the industry: a significant increase in oil and gas production, electricity generation, and achieving global leadership in hydrogen energy. Considering the topic of liquefied gas not very promising, it is planned to intensively develop the pipeline network, and of course, the electric power industry, including generation, the grid complex, and power engineering.

Viktor Fokin, General Director of the Center for Industrial Technologies, discussed with Fuad Mosa the implementation of the first stage of the roadmap, outlined at INNOPROM 2025 in Yekaterinburg. Following the deputy minister's instructions, further steps were discussed with the head of the relevant department of the Ministry of Energy, as well as with the Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources and the Director of the Department for Infrastructure and Regional Development. Viktor Fokin held a number of meetings with interested companies in the Kingdom, as well as with the head of the Business Development Department for Machinery and Equipment at NIDC (National Industrial Development Center of Saudi Arabia).

The key theme of the Forum's sessions was the development of international industrial cooperation. In his speech, the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources noted the target goal of increasing GDP and exports fourfold. In this regard, 24 priority economic sectors have been identified to achieve this goal, along with the expansion of the support program for the production of innovative products, including grants and a testing base. Significant investments are planned for the development of the mining industry. In turn, the Ministry of Investment gives priority to supporting the localization of production for the energy sector. Saudi Arabia should become a global hub for innovation and a center for the production and export of innovative products. The harmonization of standards is also on the ministry's agenda. The head of EXIM bank emphasized direct financial and guarantee support for localization projects capable of leading to export growth.

The extensive and positive coverage of the event in the international media space once again confirms its success (https://ksa.biwexpo.com/mentions-in-media).