The 3rd Private Sector Forum (PIF) was launched this week at the Riyadh’s King Abdulaziz International Conference Center.
The two day Forum, from February 12-13, is the largest platform for local business in Saudi Arabia and is dedicated to enhancing partnerships and creating opportunities for the local private sector.
The event planned to increase the private sector contribution to GDP in that country, to 65% as set out in Vision 2030.
The forum was attended by about 10,000 local, regional and global business people.
The forum also explored through a series of panels and workshops, ways to empower and enhance the role of the private sector. This is part of PIF’s strategy to increase the contribution of the local private sector into PIF projects and portfolio companies to 60%.
The value of local content grew from SAR 69 billion in 2020 to SAR 153 billion in 2023, a 122% increase.
The Accelerated Manufacturing Program, which was launched in September of last year, aims to help industrial startups develop competitive and innovative products and services at scale. The program received 350 applications. Of these, 13 small businesses (SMMEs) were selected, mentored and trained on topics such as strategy, operational excellence, sales and sustainability. They were introduced to several PIF portfolio companies, resulting in 12 commercial agreements and two product development deals with PIF portfolio companies.
In addition, PIF’s Private Sector Hub now features more than 2,000 investors registered in the hub and displays over 200 opportunities, together worth a total of over SAR 40 billion.