Leading pharmaceutical firm Pfizer has plans to set up new factories in Saudi Arabia, according to a news report.

The company also aims to diversify human resources by employing more women in line with the Saudi government policies, said Hussein Al-Hakim, director general of Saudi Pfizer at a forum in Riyadh recently in the Saudi Gazette report.

The new plant in King Abdullah Economic City, will have an output capacity of 18 million packs a year when it starts production in 2015, he said.

Speaking at the ‘Pioneering, Efficiency, Diversity and Distinctiveness Forum,’ Al Hakim stressed that the rise in the number of people affected by chronic diseases like diabetes, heart illness, blood problems and obesity, necessitates the availability of more healthcare services and pharmaceutical plants in the kingdom.

The forum was aimed at shedding light on the most important challenges facing the labour market in the kingdom, which includes developing the national human resources, creating diversity and activating women's participation in the business sector.

Al Hakim also noted that the future of countries depends mainly on the human resources and investment in developing the resources.

The firm, set to operate under ‘Saudi Pfizer Company Limited,’ is aimed not only aims to create job opportunities for qualified Saudi nationals, but also seeks to localise technical knowledge, transfer global expertise and boost the kingdom's capabilities in this sector for the production of medicines of high quality with international standards, he added.