The Public Investment Fund (PIF) on Thursday announced the launch of its Local Content Growth Program, which aims to leverage PIF spending to catalyze the development of at-scale, competitive, and innovative sectors and industries in Saudi Arabia. The Program aims to achieve the Fund’s aspiration of increasing its contribution to the Saudi economy by increasing PIF and its affiliates’ contribution to local content to 60% by the end of 2025, thereby enabling and supporting the country’s private sector in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The Program also includes a Local Content Policy, in which PIF’s portfolio companies will encourage and support local products and services from the project design stage to implementation, with priority given to private sector service providers and suppliers based on the size of their contribution to local content. With progress reported on a regular basis, this will support the competitiveness of local industries, driving innovation and confidence in local materials and designs. The announcement came at the sixth Edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh. Jerry Todd, head of the National Development Division at PIF, said, "Launching the PIF Local Content Growth Program strengthens PIF’s position as a key enabler of a thriving private sector and a more resilient domestic economy in Saudi Arabia. This move will help build local capabilities, create opportunities for private sector players across the value chain, and build on Saudi Arabia’s position at the regional and global level in line with Vision 2030." In 2021, PIF’s portfolio companies awarded SR140 billion worth of contracts to local private sector companies, nearly 60% of which went to the construction materials and services, information technology and telecommunications, and financial services sectors. This initiative is in line with PIF’s strategic objective of building partnerships with and enabling the private sector to boost Saudi Arabia’s GDP and create jobs in strategic sectors. — SG