Ready-Made Gap Maps: Where Saudi Firms Can Find Instant Value-Chain Intelligence

Government portals now hand investors the data once locked in private spreadsheets

When foreign suppliers used to scout the Saudi market, they often spent months, and hefty consulting fees just to learn which bearings, plastics or cloud-services modules the Kingdom still imports. Today, that homework is increasingly available with a few mouse-clicks, thanks to a web of Vision 2030 agencies publishing what one banker calls “the localization cheat sheets.”

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• Ministry of Investment (MISA) uploads “Opportunity Fact Sheets” that spell out market size, import spend and the incentives on offer for everything from biopharma capsules to solar-panel frames.

• NIDLP, the National Industrial Development & Logistics Program, goes deeper, issuing sector books that chart the gap between current and target local-content ratios and pinpoint which governorates need which plants.

• LCGPA, the Local Content & Government Procurement Authority, lists components that score fewer than 30 percent Saudi inputs and tags them as priority localization items in public tenders.

“A decade ago you needed Big Four consultants to build a gap matrix,” said Sami Al-Harbi, partner at Taqnia Advisory. “Now the ministries deliver 70 percent of that analysis free, formatted exactly like the tender committees want it.”

Sector Gateways at a Glance

Agency	Flagship Data Set	Ideal For
MISA – Invest Saudi	PDF fact sheets + interactive dashboard	First-look sizing, incentive snapshot
NIDLP	Deep-dive sector books, GIS zone maps	Heavy industry, site selection
LCGPA	Baseline studies, tender gap lists	Any company chasing government contracts
SIDF	30-80 page industry reports	Finance modelling, cost-curve testing
IKTVA (Aramco)	Annual Supplier Gap Book	Upstream oil & gas gear
GAMI	Localization Opportunities Portal	Defense sub-tier suppliers

(Most documents are free once you register; SIDF charges for stand-alone reports.)

How to Choose the Right Source

1. Chasing a government RFP? Start with LCGPA’s gap list; it mirrors the scoring grid evaluators use.

2. Building a plant? Combine NIDLP’s deep dives with MODON’s zoning map and then run SIDF’s cost-curve model.

3. Energy or defense supply chain? Head straight to Aramco’s IKTVA or GAMI’s portal—their gap books align line-by-line with upcoming purchase orders.

4. SME or consumer play? Monsha’at’s import-dependency scorecards reveal where local shoppers still buy foreign.

The Consultancy Question

Local firms such as Elm and Strategy& say demand for bespoke gap studies is still brisk—but the brief has changed. “Clients no longer pay us to collect basic import data; the government already publishes that,” noted Mona Iskandar, senior director at Elm. “They pay for the last mile: modelling plant economics, vetting JV partners, navigating SASO certification.”

Bottom Line

Saudi Arabia’s data firehose means investors can land in Riyadh on Sunday, download a sector gap map on Monday and pitch a localization plan by Thursday, often in the exact template regulators require. For companies ready to manufacture or code on Saudi soil, the Kingdom is practically handing out the playbook.