Saudi Arabian veterinary services company MAS has signed a deal with Argentine biotechnology company Biogenesis Bago to launch the country’s first animal vaccine manufacturing plant with investments worth $60 million.

The planned Riyadh-based plant, a 50-50 joint venture, will provide 400 job opportunities by early 2025, with further job expansion expected as it begins exporting to the region.

The Saudi government has made attracting greater foreign investment a cornerstone of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s reform strategy, Vision 2030, to diversify the economy of the world’s largest oil exporter away from oil revenues.

“The JV between Biogenesis Bago and MAS will build a facility that will initially focus on foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine production, but in the future it will develop all the (animal) vaccines that are required in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East countries,” Esteban Turic, chief executive of Biogenesis Bago, told Reuters.

The facility, expected to take 3 years to complete, will produce 200 million doses a year of vaccine for FMD, a capacity that will meet local demand and allow exporting to the region. Commercial production is expected to start by late 2024 or early 2025, he added.