The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) has facilitated four more investment agreements on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII6) across the education, entertainment and biotechnology sectors. The agreements showcase the government's commitment to transforming quality of life in the Kingdom, coupled with investor recognition of the vast opportunities available. MISA signed three agreements in the education and SME sectors with world-class institutions. One of the agreements was with the prestigious Paris-based ESSEC Business School to collaborate with the Ministry of Tourism in providing human capability development programs at their campus in Paris and a collaboration agreement with the King Abdulaziz and King Saud universities for a student exchange program. The second agreement was with global real estate and private equity firm SAFANAD and education platform Global School Management for $200m in the education sector. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and US biotechnology company Illumina signed an agreement to set up a genome training program, establish an accelerator hub for SMEs in the genomics industry, and support the development of genomic databases and research activities. Education and entrepreneurship are at the heart of Vision 2030, with Saudi Arabia's education market the largest in the region. The government has placed a strong emphasis on human capital by launching a dedicated Human Capital Development Program as part of the Vision 2030 realization programs and private sector investment in human capital and innovation is an unmatched opportunity across the region. In addition to penning the education sector agreements, MISA also signed an agreement with the Indian media and entertainment company Eros Media for the investment of $100 million in film and entertainment content production. The agreements signed on Wednesday illustrate sustained confidence in the Kingdom as a world-class investment destination, one of the key goals of the National Investment Strategy launched a year ago. A core component of the strategy is the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, which was launched on Sunday. The initiative aims to enable global investors to create low-risk, low-cost and low-carbon supply chains leveraging the Kingdom's natural resources, strong logistics infrastructure and untapped potential. In its launch phase, the initiative aims to attract more than $10 billion of industrial and service investments in global supply chains to the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia has seen strong growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years as the Kingdom's economic reforms have unlocked a broad range of opportunities for international investors. Last year net FDI growth increased by an unprecedented 257.2 percent, with inflows totaling almost $20 billion for the year – the highest in 10 years. According to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia is expected to be the fastest-growing G20 economy this year, due in part to sweeping pro-business reforms, with gross domestic product expected to expand by 7.6 percent, the fastest growth in almost a decade. — SPA
