Crown Prince Launches Investment Fund To Support Culture And Tourism

As part of the new development strategy of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia has announced the launch of the Events Investments Fund (EIF). This fund will be directed at the development of sustainable infrastructures related to tourism, culture, sports, and entertainment sectors across the Saudi Kingdom.

The fund will also be used to engage Saudi in strategic partnerships with local industries; increase foreign investments; gradually contribute to the Vision 2030 of the Saudi leadership. One of the goals of the EIF is to increase Foreign direct investments and thereby make a GDP gain of 28 billion riyals ($7.45 billion) by the year 2045. 

About The Events Investments Fund

Similar to the vision of the UAE, Saudi is also on the path of expanding its non-oil economic sector and EIF will be the chief funding authority to create innovative economic strategies in this regard. The current non-oil economic growth is recorded at three percent and the Saudi administration hopes to achieve ten percent by 2030. 

The strategic partnership will also establish a consistent and productive relationship between the local industries in the public and private sectors. It will help create a supportive environment for the industries as well as increase the number of job opportunities for the citizens.

Saudi Arabia has been making marked changes in the events sector for the past two years by liberalizing its economy to a certain extent. Further, tourism-based strategies will be designed to make Saudi a global hub in the events sector and a sought-after tourist destination.

As part of this, the fund will be utilized in constructing around 35 venues by 2030. An ambitious target of a hundred million visitors by 2030 has been set by the Arab nation and this would come under the Quality of Life program that aims to improve the quality of life for residents and their families by developing necessarily sustainable venues.                                  

The EIF follows the footsteps of the National Development Fund’s (NDF) Strategy that was launched in 2017 by the Crown Prince. This was one of the initial steps toward Vision 2030 and the strategy included multiple objectives targeted at overcoming the existing developmental challenges.

The major aim of the strategy is to create a concrete GDP impact by pumping more than 570 billion riyals ($152 billion) into the Saudi economy by 2030. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the NDF is aimed at maintaining long-term and sustainable economic growth in Saudi Arabia and it will be transformed into a Development Financial Institution (DFI).

The National Industrial Strategy was also introduced last year by the Crown Prince for attaining industrial growth. Under this, the total number of factories operating in Saudi Arabia will be increased to 36,000 by 2035.

It will also help attract investments to the domestic markets and encourage young entrepreneurs to start businesses in the land of Saudi. Securing global supply chains; exporting of high-tech products etc. will benefit the economy to become an industrial superpower.

For this purpose, the government has formed a Supreme Committee for Industry led by the Crown Prince. An Industrial council has also been formed to ensure the participation of the Private sector and industrial investors in decision-making and policy development.

The Saudi administration will also set a path toward economic strategy in accordance with global practices and expects to achieve a three-fold increase in the Private sector economy by 2030. Saudi Industries are seen as one of the most advanced among the most industries regionally and globally as it is the fourth largest manufacturer of petrochemical products in the world. 

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On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia and the World Economic Forum (WEF)signed a letter of intent to initiate an accelerator program that will encourage innovation in the Arab Nation. The agreement was signed in Davos, Switzerland with the presence of high-profile delegates from Saudi Arabia.

The delegation included Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Foreign Minister; Princess Reema bint Bandar, Saudi Ambassador to the US; Faisal Al-Ibrahim. Minister of Economy and Planning; Bandar Al-Khorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources; and Abdullah Al-Swaha, Minister of Communications and IT. One of the main highlights of the meeting is the involvement of the Saudi Kingdom as a partner in WEF’s Global Collaboration Village. It is a metaverse-based project that seeks to understand and solve the problems of the global community. 

All these projects and strategies started by the Saudi Kingdom aim for the development of a sustainable economy that would build its foundations on long-term ideals and a high-performance investment sector. The administration realizes the importance of enhancing the non-oil sector in the Saudi Kingdom as the future of Arab economies depends on it. The UAE, a close neighbor, and a competing economy to Saudi has also invested in this sector to make convincing growth in the next decade.