Before we discuss the importance of establishing the National Development Fund, its objectives and strategy, we must thank and appreciate the efforts of the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and his Crown Prince in their tireless work and development of constructive strategies to enable the Saudi private sector to participate in the processes of construction and sustainable economic development. Among these strategies is enabling the National Development Fund to be the financial entity financing the programs of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which is considered one of the important economic strategies launched by the Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fund, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on March 14, 2022.The total capital is 350 million Saudi Riyals.
To clarify the utmost importance of establishing the Saudi National Development Fund, we must mention the importance of sustainable economic development in developing countries. Sustainable economic development is defined as the policies, visions, programs and activities that aim to improve economic growth, provide welfare for citizens and raise the quality of life in society. Accordingly, sustainable economic development certainly requires developing the economic and industrial base to build an integrated economy in all areas in the country so that comprehensive economic development can be planned in line with the conditions and challenges of the country and its leaders, including government and citizens. In general, economic development affects a country in the process of economic growth in many areas. The most prominent effects of economic development in developing countries are the following:
- Improving and developing the quality of education
- Providing job opportunities for citizens
- Increasing and improving income rates
- Increasing welfare and improving the quality of life
- Localizing jobs and relying on citizens in jobs
There are many policies, methods, approaches, programs, and solutions that can be adopted to enhance economic development in countries. Among these effective methods are internal economic development programs. Among these programs, approaches, and solutions are the following:
- Working to improve the work environment
- Adopting the concept of transparency
- Relying more on the private sector in development
- Benefiting from local resources of human resources and local resources
- Developing visions for future development programs such as the Kingdom's Vision 2030
- Encouraging investments in constructive projects
- Developing infrastructure and basic
Saudi National Development Fund Strategy
One of the most important pillars that the Saudi National Development Fund strategy aims to achieve is to stimulate the private sector's contribution and maximize its development impact by more than three hundred percent (300%), as the fund decided to invest more than $152 billion to enable the growth capacity of the Saudi economy and increase the size of the gross domestic product, and then double the size of the Saudi non-oil economy and non-oil revenues by more than three hundred percent (300%) to reach more than $161 billion, and thus the private sector can provide jobs and employment opportunities for Saudis and residents, whether in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These pillars are considered among the most important strategies of the fund that it seeks to achieve within the framework of the 2030 VISION of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This strategy enables the National Development Fund to be the main enabler of achieving the economic and social goals of Saudi VISION 2030 as a financial and development entity. This important strategy was launched by the Crown Prince, Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Fund's Board of Directors, The Fund's strategy aims at a positive and ambitious future vision for the future to be a well-known and famous brand in development financing to facilitate the economic transformation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the public sector to the private sector.
The main goal of the National Development Fund is to nurture the hopes and dreams of the Saudi people, and to create a lasting impact on the society and economy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is said that the most creative and innovative nations are the ones who built their countries, and we believe that the Saudi people are mostly creative, intelligent and love the Kingdom and its soil. The love of the Saudi people for their country drives them to aspire and build a better future, create a strong impact on the social, economic and cultural development of the Kingdom and achieve its strong vision, and this confirms the goal of the National Development Fund strategies.
The National Development Fund strategy is based on coordinating development support by activating the Kingdom's economic and social development targets and securing development financing channels for the Fund's beneficiaries through its affiliated entities. In addition, to providing the necessary guarantees for the sustainability of the National Development Fund for a distant and sustainable future. It is also aiming to provide the necessary capabilities for the Fund's affiliated entities to achieve a business model of permanent and available funding sources and ensuring the continuity of development financing in the long term.
The strategy pillars also include facilitating financing and participation operations from and to the private sector, with the aim of enabling the sector to enhance its role in development financing and benefit from private projects. This is in addition to benefiting from commercial and operational harmonization and integration to better serve beneficiaries, as well as enhancing the impact and efficiency of the system, as the strategy works to activate initiatives concerned with improving performance and transparency and increasing efficiency and effectiveness, in addition to developing high-level institutional capabilities, by developing the capabilities necessary to achieve the Fund's goals. To develop and advance the Saudi economy and enhance the foundations of social development and the welfare of the Saudi citizen, the National Development Fund has provided several contributions, which are as follows:
- Securing financial savings for financing funds and banks
- Benefiting from commercial and operational harmonization and solidarity to serve the beneficiaries of affiliated entities
- Activating initiatives concerned with improving performance and transparency and increasing efficiency and effectiveness
- Enabling affiliated entities to achieve a sustainable business model and portfolio
- Enabling the private sector to enhance its cycle in development financing
- Developing the internal capabilities required to achieve the aspirations and goals of the Fund
The National Development Fund supervises the following development funds:
In summary, the National Development Fund strategy has set several objectives, including: transforming the Kingdom's economy from a public economy that relies on government spending to an economy that relies on the private sector, in addition to encouraging exports, especially nonoil exports, encouraging Saudi industries and achieving sustainable financial capabilities, and working to find effective solutions to confront the difficulties and challenges facing the economy in the future, as well as focusing on strengthening the foundations of transparency and efficiency. The strategy also aims to enhance the capacity of the financial and monetary sector from commercial banks and government development banks in terms of providing lending opportunities and financing investment opportunities in all commercial and industrial sectors, and enhancing efforts between the government and private sectors and eliminating useless overlaps between them; It also aims to contribute to building stronger and more solid global financial and banking systems that operate on internationally recognized foundations and global practices, in order to achieve the Fund's goals.
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