The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) today announced Cultural Financing, the first program of its kind in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support and provide essential financing for projects and enterprises across 16 cultural sub-sectors. The program seeks to drive sustainable growth of the cultural sector, amplify its creative output, and boost its contribution to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP), thereby driving national economic growth.
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 cultural enterprises benefiting from the program and the local banking partners. The program finances micro, small, and medium-sized cultural enterprises, enabling them to launch and scale their operations through a range of financing products available for both short-term and long-term needs, CDF said in a news release.
“The Cultural Financing marks a new ch
apter 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,” said CDF Chief Executive Majed bin Abdulmohsen Al-Hugail. “We look forward to seeing the positive ripple effects of this collaboration in revitalizing the cultural sector and, in turn, bolstering the national economy.”
Today’s announcement follows the CDF’s signing of partnership agreements with five local banks — Al-Rajhi Bank, Alinma Bank, BSF, Arab National Bank (ANB), and Bank AlJazira — to provide financing to cultural enterprises.
The partnerships underscore the vital role of the banking sector in the sustainable development of the cultural sector. They also reinforce the CDF’s ongoing efforts to spur growth across various cultural sectors in the Kingdom and strengthen partners
hips with the private sector to provide attractive financing solutions that support the cultural and creative sector and maximize its impact on economic development and job creation.
The CDF was founded in 2021 with the aim of further enhancing the cultural landscape within Saudi Arabia. Organizationally linked to the National Development Fund, its goal is to promote the development of a self-reliant cultural 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.
Source: Saudi Press Agency