Riyadh, February 15, 2022, SPA -- The Cultural Development Fund has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Exchange to advance the cultural sector, promote local content, bolster innovation and production, and foster national talent. These goals fall under the Kingdom's commitment to enabling the growth of cultural entities and projects. The MoU was co-signed by Mohammed bin Dayel, Chief Executive Officer of the Cultural Development Fund, and Mohammad Al Rumaih, Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Exchange. The partnership focuses on raising awareness on the importance of sustainability and reinvigorates the commitment of companies listed on the Saudi Exchange regarding social responsibilities and related policies and practices. The MoU also highlights the Fund's active role in delivering creditable ESG expertise through various financing mechanisms that can amplify cultural and economic footprint and realize the National Culture Strategy objectives. Mohammed Bin Dayel, CEO of the Fund, said the agreement reflects the continuous efforts by the Fund in establishing and fostering strategic partnerships in the financial sector to advance leading initiatives and programs. Mohammed Al-Rumaih, CEO of Saudi Exchange, commented: "Recently, we released our ESG Disclosure Guidelines and are delighted to, now, sign this MoU with the Cultural Development Fund as another step in our commitment to advancing the Saudi capital market and Vision 2030. Our partnership will further raise awareness of the importance of adopting ESG practices and enable companies listed on the Saudi Exchange to recognize value beyond the balance sheet." The Cultural Development Fund aims to foster the growing cultural sector, pushing forward the cultural scene and participating in achieving the National Culture Strategy's goals as part of Vision 2030. The Fund also works to develop suitable financing channels in cooperation with several specialized entities and improve the quality of established services and digital banking to enhance products and services and increase efficiency. These efforts strive to attract local and foreign investors and amplify local content within the cultural ecosystem in the Kingdom. It is worth mentioning that the Cultural Development Fund will launch the second cycle of "The Cultural Projects Incentive Program" in April. The program, which is the Fund's first program, with an allocation of SR 181 million, aims to provide the necessary financial support and incentives for qualified cultural sector projects to enable them to start their business or support their expansion and improve their services and outputs. Saudi Exchange is an authorized entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to act as the kingdom’s securities exchange (the Exchange), listing and trading in securities. In alignment with the Financial Sector Development Program, Saudi Exchange is committed to working alongside related authorities to improve procedures and simplify requirements for companies looking to list in the Saudi Capital Market. The Saudi stock market is the one of top 10 stock markets among the 67 members of the World Federation of Exchanges and is the dominant market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Exchange is the 3rd largest stock market amongst its emerging market peers. --SPA 19:56 LOCAL TIME 16:56 GMT 0024 www.spa.gov.sa/w1691973