Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund launched a partnership with the private sector to bolster the investment environment in the cultural field and provide a crowdfunding opportunity for the first creative projects.
The partnership agreement was signed with Beehive company, which provides an inspiring environment for entrepreneurs and artists.
The Fund, which was established with a capital of half a billion riyals (about $133.32 million), seeks to support cultural development and its sustainability by allocating sustainable funding from the public and private sectors with optimal financing mechanisms to support cultural projects and ensure their success.
It seeks to boost crowdfunding opportunities and investment in the cultural sector to develop small and medium enterprises in an attempt to advance the cultural sector, develop promising cultural projects, and provide liquidity to revive the creative movement.
The Saudi cultural sector is preparing for a phase of thriving arts, culture and creative production, in line with investment plans in the sector and efforts to enhance its role in quality of life and sustainable economic development.
Head of Strategy and Partnerships at King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) Fatmah al-Rashid said the sustainability of cultural projects is one of the key challenges facing the sector.
Institutions are trying to address this challenge through many ways that ensure ongoing production, Rashid added.
She pointed out that the demand for the cultural products is greater than the supply, which requires efforts to develop initiatives and projects and encourage production and talents.
She further indicated that the Saudi institutions operating in the cultural field are expected to support the promising cultural sector, emerging talents, youth capabilities, and cultural and creative content.
She stressed that these efforts help in promoting the growth of the creative sector, expand its scope by creating jobs and providing an added value to the national economy and the innovation industry in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to transform into a knowledge-based economy.
