Saudi Arabia’s Development Ecosystem Enhances its Economic, Social, Cultural Impact in Q3 2022

The development ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, the National Development Fund (NDF) and its supervised development funds and banks, continued its fundamental development role in the third quarter of this year, focusing on achieving economic, social, and cultural objectives of Vision 2030 and maximizing the developmental impact on Saudi economy.

The achievements of the development ecosystem in Q3 included funding beneficiaries from various segments and sectors, approving new financing programs, signing agreements, developing reports, formulating strategic plans, and launching initiatives aimed to elevate the level of coordination and efficiency within the ecosystem.

According to the quarterly report issued by the Media Center of the National Development Fund, the Board of Directors of the Fund issued its approval to boost the budget of the Cultural Development Fund (CDF) for the purpose of establishing a fund, under the wing of CDF, to attract “media production companies” with allocations of SR750 million for financing incentive packages.

Additionally, the National Development Fund has announced the approval of a program to finance the Gaming and Esports sector with an amount of SR300 million, with the goal of empowering the sector and supporting exceptional national projects.

The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) launched its first ESG Intelligence Report titled: “Enabling Sustainable Industrial Growth in Saudi Arabia”, which aims to illustrate the environmental, social, and governance practices adopted by the Fund, and display examples of clients’ applications.

The report discusses positive practices and applications for the future development of the industrial, mining, energy and logistics sectors in the Kingdom, and reviews topics such as: climate change, optimal use of energy and water resources.

The report also addresses SIDF’s journey towards a governance that is supported by the principles of corporate governance and risk management and designed to ensure sustainable growth of the fund and target sectors.

In the food and agriculture sector, the Agricultural Development Fund (ADF) has approved financing loans and credit facilities with a value of more than SR2 billion in several regions of the Kingdom. The fund provided these loans for the segment of small farmers and greenhouse vegetable producers, and to produce dates, poultry, and fish.

ADF has also provided working capital financing, in partnership with banks, for Importing Agricultural Products Program targeted in the food security strategy, to enhance strategic stocks and ensure stability of food supply, and to compensate for any shortages that may occur in the supply of agricultural products.

The Social Development Bank (SDB) witnessed a remarkable increase in beneficiaries financing, as the bank provided financing services to 4,300 small and emerging enterprises, 10,000 beneficiaries in freelance financing, 19,000 beneficiaries in social financing, and 37,000 male and female beneficiaries in entrepreneurs training programs.

For housing, the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) has signed 24,460 supported financing contracts in the third quarter, with a total financing value that exceeds SR16 billion. While the value of the monthly support deposited in the accounts of “Sakani” beneficiaries reached SR2.5 billion.

In the tourism sector, the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) signed a tripartite agreement with Ennismore company and Al Rajhi Capital to establish a hospitality investment fund that will advance lifestyle hotels with a capital of SR1.5 billion.

Moreover, TDF launched the Tourism Investment Portal that is designed to be the digital portal for investors, entrepreneurs, and organizations in the tourism sector. TDF has also launched the “Aoun Tourism” program to provide support to micro and small tourist establishments, with the goal of enhancing their growth, enriching their experiences, and providing better services to tourists.

The program provides flexible financing solutions and aims to support more than 2,000 establishments with a capital of up to SR500 million.

On the front of international development, the Saudi Fund for Development (SDF) continued its development role in developing countries. It signed supply contracts to support development projects in Pakistan, laid the cornerstone for a hospital project in Côte d’Ivoire, and signed a deal to finance a strategic development project in Albania.

The Fund’s operations extended during the third quarter to include projects in Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon, and Kyrgyzstan.

Moreover, the fund discussed in a joint meeting with the Federation of Saudi Chambers ways to enhance the participation of national companies and Saudi exporters in development projects financed by SDF, as part of the joint efforts of government and private sectors to develop local content in accordance with Vision 2030.