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Saudi Cultural Development Fund Debuts at Davos to Showcase Culture as Economic Engine

Saudi Cultural Development Fund Debuts at Davos to Showcase Culture as Economic Engine
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Saudi Cultural Development Fund Debuts at Davos to Showcase Culture as Economic Engine

Saudi Cultural Development Fund Debuts at Davos to Showcase Culture as Economic Engine

The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) successfully concluded its participation at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, held from January 19 to 23 in Davos, Switzerland, marking a historic and groundbreaking presence for Saudi culture at the world’s premier economic event.

Hosted at the Saudi House, the CDF engaged over 200 international experts, including leading economists and investors, through a series of dynamic activities such as a networking breakfast, panel discussion, and beneficiary talks on the NextOn platform. The CDF emphasized culture not only as a form of artistic and creative expression, but also as a vital economic driver and a strategic pillar for national development, SPA reported.

Reinforcing this vision, CDF CEO Majed Al-Hugail highlighted in a Davos panel Saudi Arabia's belief in culture as a pivotal force for economic diversification and quality of life. By 2030, he stated, the cultural sector is set to contribute $48 billion to GDP, create more than 346,000 jobs, and attract 22 million visitors.

The CDF also underscored the critical role of financing in empowering entrepreneurship and amplifying the economic potential of the cultural sector. Notable participants in the NextOn talk series included Co-Founder of AlMashtal Creative Incubator Princess Noura bint Saud bin Naif, who addressed “Culture as Economic Infrastructure: Unlocking Human Capital Through the Creative Industries.” Additionally, CEO of the Arabian Housing & Building (AHB) Company Eng. Khalid Alhenaidy contributed insights during a session titled “The Value in Cultural Assets.”

Looking ahead, the CDF organized six strategic side meetings aimed at exploring new opportunities and fostering collaborations to accelerate the development of the Saudi cultural sector and attract global investment. It also distributed 150 copies of the comprehensive investment report, Saudi Cultural Market Outlook 2025: Vision, Impact, and Opportunities, developed in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Investment, and the Invest Saudi initiative.

Furthermore, the CDF showcased Saudi creativity by exporting 60 cultural products from Samuda, a fashion-sector beneficiary brand, highlighting the growing economic significance of the Saudi fashion market.

This milestone reflects the CDF’s commitment to serving as a center of excellence and financial enabler for the Kingdom’s cultural sector. It underscores ongoing efforts to elevate Saudi culture on the global stage, maximizing its economic and social impact in alignment with the ambitious objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

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Culture

Culture Ministry Continues Preparations in Historic Jeddah to Welcome Visitors during Ramadan 

Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)
Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)
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Culture Ministry Continues Preparations in Historic Jeddah to Welcome Visitors during Ramadan 

Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)
Historic Jeddah has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination during Ramadan. (SPA)

The Saudi Ministry of Culture is continuing its efforts to revitalize Historic Jeddah in preparation for welcoming visitors during the holy month of Ramadan, offering cultural programs, events, and heritage experiences that reflect the authenticity of the past.

The district has emerged as a leading cultural tourism destination at this time of year as part of the “The Heart of Ramadan” campaign launched by the Saudi Tourism Authority.

Visitors are provided the opportunity to explore the district’s attractions, including archaeological sites located within the geographical boundaries of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed area, which represent a central component of the Kingdom’s urban and cultural heritage.

The area also features museums that serve as gateways to understanding the city’s rich heritage and cultural development, in addition to traditional markets that narrate historical stories through locally made products and Ramadan specialties that reflect authentic traditions.

These initiatives are part of the ministry’s ongoing efforts to revitalize Historic Jeddah in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and aiming to transform it into a vibrant hub for arts, culture, and the creative economy, while preserving its tangible and intangible heritage.

Culture

Thousands of Animals, Rare Specimens Stolen from Sudan Museum

Skulls of several mammals before the destruction (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Skulls of several mammals before the destruction (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Thousands of Animals, Rare Specimens Stolen from Sudan Museum

Skulls of several mammals before the destruction (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Skulls of several mammals before the destruction (Asharq Al-Awsat)

“Everything is over.” With that short and painful phrase, a Sudanese government official summed up the loss of nearly a century and a half of history after war destroyed the headquarters of the Sudan Natural History Museum in central Khartoum, stripping the country of thousands of taxidermied and live endangered animals, as well as rare reference specimens.

In the first days after fighting erupted in April 2023, activists on social media called for food and water to be provided to save the live animals. When that proved impossible, cages were opened, and the animals fled, even though some of the reptiles were venomous snakes.

The museum, officially affiliated with the University of Khartoum, lies about one kilometer from the Sudanese army’s general command headquarters in central Khartoum.

Its close proximity led to severe damage from clashes and shelling between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, which later took control of the surrounding area for more than a year.

Dr. Othman Ali Haj Al-Amin, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Khartoum, said: “We lost thousands of taxidermied animals, birds, and reptiles that are more than 150 years old.”

“It is most likely that the live animals were stolen or looted and did not die,” he added. “We did not find remains or skeletons of those animals inside the museum.”

Al-Amin broke down in tears as he described to Asharq Al-Awsat the scale of devastation inflicted on one of the world’s oldest natural history museums.

“We lost about 2,000 taxidermied animal specimens, in addition to more than 600 endangered reference specimens that were on display, and nearly all geological records, including animal, plant, and rock fossils,” he said.

“The greatest loss was around 100 species representing all families of animals, birds, and reptiles that had been cared for and preserved for decades.”

Among them were fossil bird specimens collected between 1885 and 1945 that cannot be replaced, as well as a Kordofan giraffe, an endangered subspecies.

The war also claimed “the oldest crocodile, which had lived in the museum for many years and had been cared for since it was an egg,” along with numerous reptiles, including venomous snakes, scorpions, and a Nile monitor lizard.

A taxidermied lioness was recovered and transferred to the university’s veterinary faculty.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that the International Committee of the Red Cross attempted in those early days to evacuate civilians, including university students who were trapped inside the museum for weeks, as well as to move live and taxidermied animals. The effort failed due to intense fighting in the heart of Khartoum.

According to the Sudanese official, the preserved specimens were collected in the mid-19th century by British army officers.

During World War II, they were transferred from the Sudan National Museum to the Natural History Museum next to the University of Khartoum, which has managed them since its establishment in 1929.

Al-Amin said the museum housed specimens illustrating biodiversity from across Sudan, including South Sudan before its secession, as well as samples gifted to Sudan by international museums.

The Sudan Natural History Museum included multiple sections, among them halls displaying rare bird species, another devoted to animal skulls preserved for decades, a section for medicinal and aromatic plants, geological rock samples collected from ancient eras and environments, and enclosures for live animals.

The dean said restoring the museum to its original state would require many years of work and significant funding. He voiced pessimism about recovering the rare animals, historical specimens, and old records lost during the war.

Many live animals were likely deliberately killed or died of hunger and thirst, he said, while taxidermied animals and rare rock and herb specimens — painstakingly collected, sorted, and classified over many years by researchers — were looted.

The Natural History Museum was a scientific and cultural institution dedicated to the study of biodiversity and natural specimens, and one of the oldest museums in Sudan.

Culture

Once a National Obsession, Traditional Korean Wrestling Fights for Survival 

An elderly spectator watches a ssireum match during a Lunar New Year Ssireum championship at the Taean Complex Indoor Gymnasium in Taean, South Korea, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)
An elderly spectator watches a ssireum match during a Lunar New Year Ssireum championship at the Taean Complex Indoor Gymnasium in Taean, South Korea, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Once a National Obsession, Traditional Korean Wrestling Fights for Survival 

An elderly spectator watches a ssireum match during a Lunar New Year Ssireum championship at the Taean Complex Indoor Gymnasium in Taean, South Korea, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)
An elderly spectator watches a ssireum match during a Lunar New Year Ssireum championship at the Taean Complex Indoor Gymnasium in Taean, South Korea, February 14, 2026. (Reuters)

As South Korea's global cultural influence expands in areas such as music, film and television, one form of entertainment struggling to attract attention even at home is Korea's traditional style of wrestling, known as ssireum.

Ssireum - pronounced like "see room" - had its heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s, when there were as many as eight professional teams and the top wrestlers became household names. Since then, it has been squeezed by tighter budgets and a public quick to move on to new trends.

Twenty-year-old Lee Eun-soo, who began training at the age ‌of nine, is ‌taking part in this year's Lunar New Year ‌tournament, ⁠the showcase event ⁠for the more than 1,500-year-old sport.

Lee lamented that at his former high school, the ssireum team currently has no members and there is talk of disbanding it.

"I once tried to imagine my life if I hadn’t done ssireum," Lee said. "I don’t think I could live without it."

A ssireum match involves two wrestlers facing off in an ⁠eight-meter (26.25 ft) sandpit ring, gripping each other by a ‌cloth belt called a "satba" and using ‌strength, balance, timing and stamina to force the opponent to the ground.

Ssireum ‌was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage ‌of Humanity in 2018, but that international recognition has not translated into commercial success. Its relative obscurity contrasts with the high profile of Japan's sumo, another centuries-old form of wrestling.

Unlike sumo, which is supported by ‌a centralized professional ranking system and six major annual tournaments - or Olympic wrestling, with its global reach - ⁠ssireum remains ⁠largely domestic.

"Sport is something people won't come to watch if they don’t know the wrestlers or even the sport itself," said Lee Tae-hyun, a former ssireum wrestler and Professor of Martial Arts at Yong In University, who has promoted the sport overseas and believes it has commercial potential with the right backing.

Lee Hye-soo, 25, a spectator at the Lunar New Year tournament, said many Koreans are now unfamiliar with ssireum.

"My grandfather liked watching ssireum, so I watched it with him a lot when I was young," she said.

"I like it now too, but I think it would be even better if it became more famous."