The Saudi Tourism Development Fund (TDF) has signed new partnerships with government and private entities with a financial impact exceeding SAR 4 billion ($1.1 billion), as part of its role in expanding financing for small and medium-sized tourism enterprises across the Kingdom.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Fahad Al-Ashgar, General Manager of Business Development at TDF, said the fund offers tailored empowerment programs for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“We have a clear success story,” he said, noting that the fund has financed 2,500 enterprises with the support of its partners in recent years. This financing has helped create and sustain 74,000 jobs in Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector.
Al-Ashgar made these remarks during the Development Finance Conference held last week under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Development Fund, as part of the Momentum 2025 platform themed “Leading Development Transformation,” in the Saudi capital.
Empowering tourism
Al-Ashgar added that TDF acts as an enabler of the tourism sector and has signed six agreements under its Tourism Enablement Programs, targeting MSMEs across all regions of the Kingdom.
These initiatives complement the fund’s direct financing, which supports both foreign and domestic investment, in addition to a memorandum of understanding signed with the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank.
Established in 2020, the Tourism Development Fund aims to enable and attract tourism investment and stimulate sectoral development by creating more profitable projects that contribute to developing tourism destinations.
The fund is one of six newly established funds created to support Saudi Vision 2030 goals, according to National Development Fund Governor Stephen Paul Groff in earlier remarks.
TDF CEO Qusai Al-Fakhri said the average annual number of beneficiaries has increased tenfold, while the volume of financing has more than doubled compared to previous years.
The fund goes beyond financing to build an integrated enablement ecosystem that creates new investment opportunities, strengthens development finance, empowers the private sector, and ensures inclusive growth across all regions, enabling MSMEs to contribute to national development, he added.
Partnership details
Recent partnerships include the launch of a new financing program with the Kafalah Program, with a market value estimated at SAR 700 million ($190 million), in cooperation with more than 45 financing entities. Previous collaboration enabled over 2,000 enterprises to obtain financing guarantees exceeding SAR 2 billion ($530 million).
The fund also signed a new SAR 300 million ($80 million) financing agreement with the Arab National Bank, adding to a similar agreement signed last year that benefited 249 enterprises within one year.
TDF confirmed that more than 10,000 enterprises have benefited to date from the Tourism Enablement Programs, as part of broader efforts to increase MSME participation in tourism and diversify projects across the Kingdom, in line with Vision 2030 growth objectives.
