Public Investment Fund, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is developing a company to invest in the kingdom's growing entertainment sector.
The sovereign wealth fund's new investment arm will have an initial 10 billion Saudi riyals ($2.7 billion), said a news release by the country's official news entity, the Saudi Press Agency.
The company will provide new investment capital to support growth of the entertainment sector and the diversification of the kingdom's economy over the short and long term. It will also seek to "localize the large amount of spending on entertainment outside the kingdom, in addition to promoting the entertainment sector's role in diversifying revenue streams." Investments will include an entertainment complex to be launched by 2019.
The launch of the new company is in line with the kingdom's Vision 2030 plans, which aim in part to increase cultural and entertainment offerings of Saudi Arabia and to create new job opportunities. It is projected that the company will serve more than 50 million visitors to Saudi Arabia annually and will create more than 22,000 jobs — contributing about 8 billion riyals to the kingdom's GDP.
PIF has $183 billion in assets, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. Spokesmen could not be reached for comment be press time.
