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Saudi Arabia’s PIF Makes Efforts to Enhance Local Investors’ Participation in its Projects

Diriyah Project of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Diriyah Project of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia’s PIF Makes Efforts to Enhance Local Investors’ Participation in its Projects

Diriyah Project of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Diriyah Project of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been making strong efforts to enhance the participation of local contractors in the projects of the fund’s affiliates, to enable establishments to carry out development work in accordance with the highest quality standards.

In June, the Saudi Contractors Authority, in cooperation with the fund, launched the contractor pre-qualification program for the fund’s units.

The program aims to provide various services and facilities, enabling contractors to pre-qualify under the applicable technical standards. It will also provide a highly reliable indicator for PIF’s affiliates to implement construction projects with the local private sector.

According to official information, PIF is currently working with the Saudi Contractors Authority of the Federation of Saudi Chambers to hold a number of workshops across the Kingdom to introduce the fund’s projects and facilitate the registration mechanism.

The Saudi Contractors Authority (SCA) had urged all contractors to register in Muqawil portal to start pre-qualification for various projects under PIF’s affiliates program.

According to a statement by the SCA, the pre-qualification program enhances contractor opportunities by undertaking quality projects for the sovereign wealth fund’s affiliates. The service offers a platform that includes several of PIF’s units in a unified pre-qualification program.

The program also seeks to enhance competitiveness and transparency in the contracting sector and allows development of existing and future projects, in line with the highest quality standards, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the SCA and DMG Events concluded on Thursday an agreement to organize the Saudi Infrastructure Summit 2023 during the Saudi Infrastructure Exhibition on Sept. 11-13 in Riyadh.

The summit will focus on the revolutionary transformation of the infrastructure in the Kingdom with the participation of more than 60 influential speakers and 400 international and local experts.

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China Vows 'Necessary Spending' to Hit Economic Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A man walks in the Central Business District on a rainy day, in Beijing, China, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man walks in the Central Business District on a rainy day, in Beijing, China, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
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China Vows 'Necessary Spending' to Hit Economic Growth Target

FILE PHOTO: A man walks in the Central Business District on a rainy day, in Beijing, China, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man walks in the Central Business District on a rainy day, in Beijing, China, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

Chinese leaders pledged on Thursday to deploy "necessary fiscal spending" to meet this year's economic growth target of roughly 5%, acknowledging new problems and raising market expectations for fresh stimulus on top of measures announced this week.
The remarks, which included guidance to the government to support household consumption and stabilize the troubled real estate market, came in an official readout of a monthly meeting of top Communist Party officials, the Politburo. The September meeting is not usually a forum for macroeconomic discussions, which suggests growing anxiety over slowing growth momentum.
The world's second-largest economy faces strong deflationary pressures due to a sharp property market downturn and frail consumer confidence, which has exposed its over-reliance on exports in an increasingly tense global trade environment.
A wide range of economic data in recent months has missed forecasts, raising concerns among economists that the growth target was at risk and that a longer-term structural slowdown could be in play.
"New situations and problems" demand a sense of "responsibility and urgency," state media reported, citing the Politburo meeting.
China's central bank on Tuesday unveiled its most aggressive monetary easing since the pandemic, flagging cuts to a broad range of interest rates and a 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) liquidity injection into the financial system, among other steps.
Beijing is considering pumping up to 1 trillion yuan into its biggest state banks to increase their capacity to support the struggling economy, primarily by issuing new special sovereign bonds, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
Chinese real estate shares jumped more than 8% and their Hong Kong peers soared 9% after the Politburo announcement, leading broader gains in the stock market. The yuan and Chinese bond yields also rose.
The Politburo said the government should "promote the stabilization of the real estate market", expand a whitelist of housing projects that can receive further financing and revitalize idle land, according to the readout.
Officials "will respond to people's concerns, adjust home purchase restriction policies, lower existing mortgage rates and improve land, fiscal, tax and financial policies as soon as possible to push forward the new model of property development", it said.

The Politburo's endorsement of further stimulus "represents a strategic shift in macro policy, from piecemeal policies to a highly orchestrated package in the right direction," said Bruce Pang, chief economist China at Jones Lang LaSalle.
"A pick-up in government spending will probably be sufficient to drive a turnaround in business confidence, market sentiment and economic activities, helping China to catch up with potential trend growth."
China will make good use of its ultra-long special sovereign bonds and local government special bonds to support government investment, the Politburo vowed, according to Reuters. It pledged to boost income for low- and middle-income groups and support consumption as well as improve childbirth support policies.
The ministries of finance and civil affairs said on Wednesday they would distribute a one-time allowance to disadvantaged people ahead of a national holiday in early October. They vowed to prioritize employment and promote wage growth in response to steep pay cuts in some sectors and soaring youth unemployment.
"Falling inflation and private sector deleveraging mean that rate cuts alone won't dramatically boost domestic demand," said Capital Economics analyst Julian Evans-Pritchard. "Doing so would require more substantial fiscal support. There are some hints of that in the (Politburo) communique."
As flagged by central bank Governor Pan Gongsheng on Tuesday, top policymakers said China would lower the reserve requirement ratio and implement "forceful" interest rate cuts.