The Forum, which will be held under the theme “Shared Ambition for a Prosperous Economy”, will be attended by a number of Their Excellencies, ministers, senior officials from the Fund and its portfolio companies, representatives of government agencies, as well as leading private sector companies in various strategic sectors in the Kingdom, in addition to more than 100 booths for the Fund's portfolio companies.
On this occasion, the Forum will be held under the theme “Shared Ambition for a Prosperous Economy”. <Jerry Todd, Head of National Development at the Public Investment Fund, said: “The Private Sector Forum is a platform to foster collaboration and partnership opportunities between PIF and its portfolio companies and the local private sector. Now in its third edition, the forum continues to grow in size, scope and ambition, reflecting the Fund's efforts to engage, empower and maximize the contribution of the private sector to a more diversified economy with localized supply chains supported by advanced technology.”
The Private Sector Forum will also discuss the role of the private sector in the development of the UAE's economy. The two-day PIF Forum will discuss a number of topics in a series of panel discussions and workshops that focus on exploring opportunities to empower and enhance the role of the private sector, in line with the Fund's strategy to increase its contribution and portfolio companies in local content to 60%.
The forum will showcase PIF's initiatives and programs to promote engagement with the private sector, empower it and increase its contribution to a more diversified economy with local supply chains supported by advanced technology.
The forum will showcase PIF's initiatives and programs aimed at strengthening the partnership with the private sector, including the Local Content Development Program “Musasa”, which was launched by the Public Investment Fund in the first edition of the forum. The program aims to increase the contribution of the Fund and its portfolio companies to local content, and the program contributed to an increase in spending on local content from SAR 69 billion in 2020 to SAR 153 billion in 2023, an increase of 122%.
In addition, the forum will explore opportunities that contribute to empowering the role of the private sector, in line with PIF's strategy to increase its contribution and its portfolio companies in local content to 60%.
<The "Industrial Business Accelerator" program was launched in September last year with the aim of empowering emerging industrial companies. The program received 350 applications, of which 13 SMEs were selected, as the program aims to develop competitive and innovative products and services for participating companies, and grow their businesses on a large scale, by providing training and mentoring sessions provided by experts in the field of industry, strategy, operational excellence, sales and sustainability, through activating communication channels with the Fund's portfolio companies, which contributed to signing 12 commercial agreements, in addition to two agreements aimed at developing a new business model for SMEs, which led to the signing of 12 commercial agreements.
The Fund also launched the Private Sector Platform, which is a gateway for private sector companies to build partnerships with the Fund and its portfolio companies in the Kingdom's strategic sectors, and more than 2,000 investors have registered on the platform since its launch in 2023. In addition to the "Contractor Finance" program, the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the region, which aims to facilitate financing solutions between the Fund's companies and the private sector.
This year's edition of the forum will witness the announcement of the winners of the "Contribution to Design" competition in cooperation with Roshan Group to empower the talents of Saudi designers and promote the use of local materials in construction and real estate development projects. The contestants were divided between the "Emerging Architects" track, which included 373 Saudi participants (107 teams) from 24 universities, and the "Emerging Design Firms" track, which included more than 160 companies across the Kingdom.
This year's edition of the forum will see the announcement of the winners of the "Design Contribution" competition in collaboration with ROSHN Group.
