Riyadh: Saudi Downtown Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, and the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority (LCGPA) signed a cooperation agreement to discuss opportunities to develop local content and national capabilities and strengthen cooperation with local suppliers and small and medium enterprises in Saudi Downtown Company projects in 12 Saudi cities.

Saudi Downtown Company and LCGPA will explore cooperation opportunities for local content development across different fields to benefit the national economy and to create more opportunities for local industries and companies and SMEs, in addition to local talent development and knowledge transfer, and the development of programs that will contribute to local content development by designing and implementing a comprehensive local content strategy.

The agreement will also allow for sharing experiences and best practices to improve local content at many levels like industry localization, technology transfer, and identifying investment opportunities for local and international manufacturers and investors.

The agreement will also allow both parties to combine efforts to continue increasing Saudization levels, integrating relevant national initiatives and localization programs, attracting Saudi talents and creating training opportunities and cooperating with Saudi universities and R&D centers.

LCGPA confirmed that this agreement comes as part of the authority's efforts to enhance cooperation between the public and private sectors, to achieve the national goals towards developing local content and enhancing its value in the national economy. LCGPA also explained that this agreement will contribute effectively to identifying opportunities to localize a number of products in order to achieve self-sufficiency in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Downtown Company said that its 12 mixed-use destinations and downtown projects will act as platforms for the creation of opportunities for people and for the business community, and it confirmed that the promotion and development of local content is an important part of these projects.

Saudi Downtown Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PIF and guided by the fund’s strategy. The company will develop modern downtowns and destinations that will have a sustainable social and economic impact to catalyze economic activity and enhance the quality of life in Saudi cities, namely Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Al-Hufuf in Al-Ahsa, Al-Khobar, Buraydah, Al-Taif, Arar, Hail, Tabuk, Dumat Al-Jandal, Jizan, Najran, and Al-Baha.