His Excellency Prof. Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Dawood, President of the University, and His Excellency the Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Eng. Osama bin Abdulaziz Al-Zamil, signed today, Wednesday, 25/11/1444 H, a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources and Qassim University to establish and build a factory for advanced production and innovation on the university's lands, in the presence of His Excellency the Vice President of the University, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Saawi, His Excellency the Vice President for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research, Dr. Mohammed bin Fahad Al-Sharekh, His Excellency the Vice President for Planning, Development and Quality, Prof. Khaled bin Bani Al-Harbi, his Excellency the Vice Dean of the university.

This agreement aims to establish a factory for advanced production and innovation at the university, train university employees, including on-the-job training, as well as stimulate research and development, innovation and invention by encouraging the factory to cooperate with the relevant authorities at the university, as the two parties seek to cooperate in the fields of industrialization, advanced production and industrial innovation, which are key pillars to contribute to achieving the Saudi Vision 2030 industrially, and these areas contribute to increasing the contribution of the industrial sector to GDP, creating jobs, increasing the volume of non-oil exports to achieve sustainable development, diversifying income sources, and contributing to

According to the terms of this agreement, the areas of cooperation between the two parties include activating the Rafid program, which is concerned with establishing and building factories for advanced production and innovation on the university's lands, setting the necessary criteria for granting investors industrial licenses to establish industrial projects within the Rafid program, designing incentives and supporting services for the program, setting performance indicators for the program in the area of cooperation between the two parties, and training university employees.

This agreement also contributes to stimulating research, development, innovation and invention by encouraging the factory in cooperation with the relevant authorities at the university, benefiting from the experiences of both parties in operating the program, as well as creating academic programs or developing existing programs in support of the goal, attracting professional and academic partners from experts to transfer expertise and enrich the program, establishing and activating scientific research and innovation plans in advanced manufacturing fields, in addition to supporting cooperation and partnership with global partners in the academic and commercial sectors from the pioneers of advanced manufacturing technologies through the program, and considering linking members of