RIYADH: The Cultural Development Fund has launched the first cultural financing program of its kind in Saudi Arabia to provide essential resources for projects and enterprises across the Kingdom’s relevant sectors.
The program seeks to drive sustainable growth in the culture sector, amplify creative output, and boost the sector’s contribution to Saudi Arabia’s GDP.
The cultural financing has been designed to support the development of cultural enterprises through flexible, accessible, and competitive packages that maximize profitability while minimizing risks for both the enterprises benefiting from the program and local banking partners.
The program finances micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, enabling them to launch and scale their operations through a range of products available for both short-term and long-term needs.
Majed bin Abdulmohsen Al-Hugail, CEO of the CDF, said: “The cultural financing marks a new chapter in our mission to empower the cultural sector in collaboration with our local banking partners. This financing solution is designed to meet the diverse and evolving needs of the sector’s entrepreneurs and support their aspirations, reaffirming our commitment to building strategic partnerships with the private sector.”
He added: “We look forward to seeing the positive effects of this collaboration in revitalizing the cultural sector as well as bolstering the national economy.”
The announcement follows the CDF’s signing of agreements with five local banks to provide financing to cultural enterprises: Al-Rajhi Bank, Alinma Bank, BSF, Arab National Bank, and Bank AlJazira.
The CDF was founded in 2021 with the aim of further enhancing the cultural landscape in Saudi Arabia, and is linked to the National Development Fund to promote the development of a self-reliant sector.
The fund actively supports a variety of cultural activities and projects, facilitates investment, and seeks to improve the domestic cultural sector’s profitability in alignment with the National Culture Strategy and Saudi Vision 2030.
