The Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced on Tuesday the signing of four Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with local entities on the sidelines of the inaugural PIF Private Sector Forum in Riyadh. The agreements aim to enhance joint cooperation through a range of initiatives aimed to support Saudi Arabia's private sector across a number of strategic sectors. The first MoU was signed with the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, and aims to increase the local content in the national economy by collaborating on the development of relevant programs and strategies that aim to increase local content for PIF and its portfolio companies as well as developing and launching local content opportunities in the different strategic sectors on which PIF is focused. The second MoU was signed with the Building Technology Stimulus Initiative under the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, and aims to explore opportunities to develop the modern construction methods and relevant technologies to serve the direction of the housing and construction sectors in Saudi Arabia, and grow the local content in the construction sector. The third MoU was signed with the Saudi Contractors Authority to collaborate on several initiatives to support the development of the local contracting sector with the aim of strengthening Saudi Arabia's position as a leader in the construction and building services sector to support the ambitions of PIF Real Estate projects. The fourth agreement with the Federation of Saudi Chambers aims to enhance the cooperation between the private sector and PIF's projects and investments, which will increase local content by encouraging the private sector to take part in PIF's current and future investments and projects. The signing of the agreement comes as part of the Federation's role as an umbrella for the business sector and the chambers of commerce in Saudi Arabia. Through the signing of the four MoUs, PIF aims to enable the growth of the local private sector by creating more opportunities to be involved, enhancing its knowledge and capacity for innovation, and encouraging the localization of supply chains in strategic sectors. These objectives align with PIF's efforts to support and enable the private sector to achieve the target of increasing its contribution to GDP to at least 65% by 2030, as outlined in Saudi Vision 2030. The PIF Private Sector Forum is the latest PIF initiative to empower and support the private sector, and aims at strengthening partnerships between PIF, its portfolio companies and the private sector as well as advancing opportunities and localizing supply chains in strategic sectors. — SG
