Abdullah Ibrahim Abu Bakr, project manager of the Saudi Arabia Infrastructure Fund, said in an interview with Al Arabia on Tuesday in Riyadh on the sidelines of the “Future Investment Initiative” event. Infrastructure Finance It is a fully-fledged development fund aimed at infrastructure projects in the areas of water, electricity, transport, education, health, communications and digital infrastructure.

The fund currently has projects under review and evaluation, most of which are in the infrastructure and watershed, and other projects will be added in different sectors in the near future, he said.

Abdullah Abu Bakr explained that infrastructure projects, including existing projects and new ones to be added in the near future, may need the support of funds through innovative and structured products, including secondary loans and guarantees, to raise the credit rating of the projects. Private sector entry into these projects should be encouraged.

He said BlackRock would be a strategic partner to contribute to the establishment and operation of the fund, as it did with Chase with the Industrial Development Fund in the 1970s by participating in establishing the proper management and management of finance and financial institutions. Attracting finance and investment and how to help the local private sector and foreigners fund more in the future.

On Monday, October 25, the Saudi National Development Fund announced the establishment of a national infrastructure fund with a capital of 200 billion riyals, which was approved by the Council of Ministers as one of the development funds and banks affiliated with the National Development Fund.

He also pointed out that BlackRock has been appointed as a strategic partner to contribute to the establishment of the National Infrastructure Fund, in order to implement international best practices in the management and management of specialized financial institutions and funds.

The fund intends to support projects worth a total of 200 billion riyals over the next ten years, which will contribute to the growth of GDP and provide employment. Finding alternative solutions to fund infrastructure projects and encouraging the private sector to invest in these projects.

These funds will have a complementary role with the National Center for Privatization by financing infrastructure projects that will be privatized or provided through a public-private partnership.