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 signed 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: .An agreement 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; and .An investment agreement with global real estate and private equity firm SAFANAD and education platform Global School Management for US$200m in the education sector; and .An agreement with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and US biotechnology company Illumina 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 global Indian media and entertainment company Eros Media for investment of $100m in film and entertainment content production. The agreements signed today 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 – 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 US$10bn 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%, with inflows totalling almost US$20bn for the year – the highest they have been in 10 years. You can find the Ministry's Q3 2022 Investment Highlights report here. 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.
