Riyadh: The Development Ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, the National Development Fund (NDF) and its supervised development funds and banks, has concluded the first half of 2023's with major support and financing contributions that focus on achieving economic, social, and cultural objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and maximizing the developmental impact on the Saudi economy. NDF's Development Ecosystem delivered over SAR (14.1) bn in financing, SAR (10.3) bn in support, SAR (5.6) bn in guarantees.

NDF oversees a complete development environment; an ecosystem that allows the most promising sectors and industries to reach their full potential with dedicated focus on industrial growth, social opportunities, and outstanding cultural progress. As Saudi Arabia's development finance allocator and supervisor, NDF plays an important role in ensuring capital is made to work as hard as possible in projects that are impactful, sustainable, and achievable.

The fund will help shape the future of the Kingdom through orchestrating development, ensuring sustainability, and enabling private sector funding. In the first half of 2023's, the financial contributions of supervised development funds and banks were as follows:

The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) disbursed around SAR (1.6) bn financing to (104) industrial enterprises, including approximately SAR (1.1) bn to large companies of strategic importance in the industrial sector, and others aimed at qualifying owners of small and medium enterprises to develop their businesses and increase their contribution in the Saudi economy. SIDF works to enable industrial development in the Kingdom by providing financial support, training, and guidance to industrial companies, with the goal of enabling growth and expansion for industrial enterprises and strengthening partnerships with government and private institutions to align the support and efforts aimed to boost the industrial sector.

The Tourism Development Fund (TDF) disbursed financing worth SAR (133) m, support worth around SAR (34) m, and guarantees worth SAR (52) m to (40) enterprises in the tourism sector. TDF aims to provide financial support for tourism projects that contribute to achieving tourism development in the Kingdom. The Tourism Development Fund contributed to achieving many achievements in the first half of this year, enabling investors to obtain tourism financing, as well as contributing to increasing the number of tourism visits to the Kingdom. The Tourism Development Fund seeks to achieve more achievements in the coming years, through the implementation of many programs and projects that support the tourism development in the Kingdom and enhance integration between government and private agencies working in the tourism sector.

The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) provided guarantees to more than (30) enterprises with a value exceeding SAR (30) m to support cultural activities in the sector. Through its programs, CDF contributes to providing financing and investment solutions to stimulate the cultural sector, with programs dedicated to encouraging the production of cultural content and supporting creativity. In addition to providing non-financial support through consultations and workshops to improve the potential for cultural projects and activities. The Cultural Development Fund also seeks to encourage the investments of private sector in cultural activities as part of its efforts to contribute to making the Kingdom a leading cultural destination in the world.

In developing national human capital, the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) provided support worth SAR (4.6) billion through its various programs, including empowerment, guidance, and training. HRDF supported the employment of more than (199,000) individuals and provided support services to around (79,000) enterprises from different sectors and parts of the Kingdom. HRDF programs focused on stimulating the private sector's contribution to Saudization, and enhancing partnerships with all relevant parties in training, employing, and empowering national cadres, and increasing their competitiveness and efficiency in the labor market.

To support economic and social development in the Kingdom through providing financial products and services that meet the needs of small and medium enterprises, the SME bank provided guarantees during the first half of 2023 through Kafalah program of approximately SAR (5.2) billion, and an investment worth SAR (172) million through the Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), and financing worth (215) million riyals through the programs of the SME Bank. This contribution aimed to enhance integration between various economic sectors, through financing joint projects between the public and private sectors in supporting SMEs.

The Social Development Bank (SDB), as one of the most important social financing institutions in the Kingdom, has provided financing and support to more than (70,000) individuals with value of SAR (3.8) billion. SDB also provided financing to about (5,400) small and emerging enterprises with a value exceeding SAR (2.6) billion. The bank's programs aim to finance citizens to obtain social loans, finance small and micro projects, productive families, social responsibility projects, empower non-profit organizations, increase women's participation, and enhance and enable financial planning for individuals.

The Real Estate Development Fund supported more than (31) thousand beneficiaries to sign their financing contracts to own housing within the various financing and housing options for housing support programs during the first half of this year. The total support disbursed for subsidized loans during the same period amounted to more than SAR (5.5) billion. This is within the framework of efforts to improve the affordability of housing costs to achieve the objectives of the Housing Program, one of the programs of Saudi Vision 2030, by providing opportunities to own suitable housing for Saudi families by providing various products and solutions.

The Agricultural Development Fund (ADF) provided financing worth SAR (2.9) billion to approximately (6,000) individuals and (63) establishments during the first half of the year 2023. In addition to providing financial guarantees of approximately SAR (316) million. The fund provided financing for various projects and segments such as small farmers and breeders, poultry projects, greenhouse projects, fish production in inland waters and dates production. ADF also financed the imports of agricultural products targeted in the food security strategy.

The Saudi EXIM Bank works to enable access of non-oil exports to global markets by covering financing gaps and reducing exports risks. The Saudi Export-Import Bank has provided financing for Saudi non-oil exports with a total value exceeding SAR (2.8) billion during the first half of the year 2023. Exports covered by credit insurance policies amounted to SAR (4.25) billion, while other guarantees, such as providing credit or guarantees for exports, amounted to approximately SAR (77) million Saudi riyals for the same period.

The Saudi Fund for Development contributes to strengthening Saudi Arabia's relations with developing countries by advancing sustainable economic development and supporting the work of international organizations. In the first half of 2023, SFD approved development loans that exceeded SAR (2.6) billion in (7) countries to execute local development projects.

Additionally, the fund approved grants with over SAR (2.4) billion, benefiting two countries and an international organization, while the value of total grants disbursed amounted to SAR (1) billion and disbursed loans exceeded SAR (3) billion for development projects in more than (50) countries and international organizations around the world. The projects funded by the Saudi Fund for Development include the construction of power stations and power transmission lines, and the establishment of infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, ports, and airports to develop the transport and communications sectors. The projects also focus on supporting education and health in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with the goal of enhancing the capabilities of developing countries to face economic challenges and fluctuations, and to contribute to achieving economic and security stability in the world.