Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that Saudi Arabia plans to boost the capital of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) by SAR6bn ($1.6bn) to help finance the kingdom’s entry into new industries.
The additional planned allocation would be on top of the SAR3bn ($800m) of capital recently injected in the fund, Falih said, as reported by Reuters.
The Saudi Industrial Development Fund received a new injection of cash for investment.
“There is now a study to increase the capital of the fund by a large amount which will give it an opportunity to develop other industries,” the minister told reporters late on Wednesday. “We are talking about renewable energy industries, conversion industries, automotive industries, vital industries that have never existed in the kingdom,” he said, adding that military and pharmaceutical projects would receive support.”
SDIF contributes to the goals, policies and programs of the Kingdom’s industrial development by providing finance and advisory services needed to support the growth and development of local industrialization and upgrading the level of the industry performance, the organization says on its website. In particular, the fund plays an important role in supporting small and medium establishments.
Abdulkarim Al-Nafi is the general manager of the 43 year-old SIDF, which has seen its organization evolve with time. The fund shifted last year from being supervised by the Ministry of Finance to fall under the Ministry of Commerce and Investment.
