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Saudi Arabia Promotes Investment Environment to Fund Cultural Projects

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Promotes Investment Environment to Fund Cultural Projects

A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A night view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

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.

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Russian ‘Spy Whale’ in Norway Wasn’t Shot Dead, Likely Died of Infection

FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)
FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)
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Russian ‘Spy Whale’ in Norway Wasn’t Shot Dead, Likely Died of Infection

FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)
FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)

A beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation that it was a Russian spy, was not shot to death as claimed by animal rights groups but died of a bacterial infection, Norwegian police said Friday.
A final autopsy by Norway's Veterinary Institute “concludes that the probable cause of death was bacterial infection -- possibly as a result of a wound in the mouth from a stuck stick,” Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and Environment section of the police in south-western Norway said.
“There have been no findings from the autopsy that indicate that the whale has been shot,” he stressed, adding that the autopsy had been “made difficult by the fact that many of the whale’s organs were very rotten.” As there was no indication of foul play, there was no reason to start a criminal investigation into its death, The Associated Press quoted Preede Revheim as saying.
The tame beluga, which was first spotted in 2019 not far from Russian waters with a harness reading “Equipment St. Petersburg,” had been nicknamed "Hvaldimir,” combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It was found floating in a southern Norway bay on Aug. 31.
In September, animal advocate groups OneWhale and NOAH filed a police report saying that the animal’s wounds suggested it was intentionally killed.
They pointed at several wounds found on the animal’s skin, including what was interpreted as a bullet hole.
“Assessments made by the Veterinary Institute and the police’s forensic technicians are that these are not gunshot wounds. X-rays of the chest and head were carried out without any projectiles or other metal fragments being detected,” police said in a statement.
Earlier, police had described a stick about 35 centimeters (14 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) wide which was found wedged in the animal’s mouth, its stomach was empty and its organs had broken down, police said. No further details were given.
The 4.2-meter (14-foot) long and 1,225-kilogram (2,700-pound) whale was first spotted by fishermen not far from the Arctic town of Hammerfest.
Its harness, along with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera, led to media speculation that it was a “spy whale.” Experts say the Russian navy is known to have trained whales for military purposes. Media reports also have speculated that the whale might have been trained as a therapy animal.
There was no immediate reaction from OneWhale or NOAH.