Saudi Arabia unveils a programme providing financing options for contractors
The 2024 PIF Private Sector Forum commenced on Tuesday in Riyadh, organized by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) from February 6-7, 2024.
The primary aim of the event is to bolster partnerships and highlight collaborative prospects within strategic sectors in Saudi Arabia. With over 8,000 attendees, including ministers, senior PIF officials, and private sector representatives, the forum showcased 80 companies affiliated with PIF and hosted more than 100 booths for PIF portfolio companies and government entities.
During the opening ceremony, Yasser Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, made important news. He noted that PIF is committed to providing financial help to Saudi contractors who collaborate with PIF portfolio companies under the newly launched Contractor Financing Programme. This effort aims to strengthen the construction sector by providing contractors with specific financing choices that promote transparency and connectivity within the construction ecosystem, increase contractor cashflows, and assist critical projects.
Al-Rumayyan underscored the forum's importance, emphasising the collaborative opportunities it presents between PIF and the private sector, in line with Vision 2030's objective of raising the private sector's contribution to GDP to 65% by 2030. Notably, private sector investments in PIF portfolio companies and projects amounted to $25.6 billion as of the third quarter of 2023.
Since its establishment in 2023, the PIF Private Sector Hub has helped private companies looking to interact with PIF and its portfolio companies take advantage of over 200 opportunities worth over $5.3 billion.
PIF created the National Development Division (NDD) to support national development initiatives even more, emphasising the establishment of deeper relationships with portfolio firms and a greater level of private sector involvement. Since 2017, PIF has established 93 firms, which have produced over 644,000 direct and indirect jobs in a variety of promising industries.
