DUBAI: Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE and Egypt are the core investment markets for the Middle East Venture Partners, said Rabih Khoury, CEO of the company. While speaking with Arab News on the sidelines of the Arab Women Forum in Dubai on Tuesday, Khoury also shared MEVP’s plans to expand into Saudi Arabia but did not mention an exact timeline in which the company is planning to mark its presence in the Kingdom. “We need to expand the team, especially in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is growing, and you need to bring in Saudis to work in the Saudi ecosystem. And also, we’re going to be launching our fourth fund, hopefully, in the third quarter of 2022,” Khoury told Arab News. Khoury also lauded the initiatives of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which has turned the Kingdom into an investment-friendly region. “Five, six years ago, when we used to go to Saudi (Arabia), there was no hope. But now, with a young Crown Prince, who really focuses on young people, enabling them, by giving an opportunity to actually build businesses based on their dreams, we see a lot of hope in the region,” added Khoury. Khoury also talked about the necessity of having a regional entity like the European Investment Bank in the Middle East. “We do not have these pan-Arab entities that will look at us as regional investors. And what we see is a bit local. So what’s happening is, local funds are getting only local support.”