The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) is intensifying strategic efforts to integrate Saudi private-sector companies into major international development projects financed by the Kingdom, in a move designed to expand the global footprint of Saudi businesses and strengthen local content abroad. The initiative targets Saudi contractors, engineering firms, suppliers, and consulting companies, enabling them to secure operational shares in international markets while prioritizing Saudi-made products and services beyond the kingdom’s borders. The effort aligns with Saudi Vision 2030 goals to diversify income sources and enhance non-oil economic growth. The current portfolio of projects includes several international tenders across multiple continents. Among the most prominent are the construction and outfitting of the National Blood Transfusion Center in the Comoros, as well as the fifth phase of the Saudi Program for Well Drilling and Rural Development in Uganda. Additional opportunities include major agricultural and environmental projects in Tunisia, notably the second phase of the Integrated Agricultural Development Project in Ghazala, Joumine, and Sejnane. Other tenders involve coastal protection works to combat marine erosion along the stretch from Gammarth to Carthage, in addition to a polyethylene pipeline distribution network project. In the academic sector, the fund is also offering Saudi firms the opportunity to compete for civil works contracts related to the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus project in Antigua and Barbuda. The SFD has invited interested Saudi companies to access tender documents through its official website, emphasizing that it is coordinating directly with relevant authorities to provide technical and logistical support for local investors once procurement procedures are completed. The move builds on the fund’s longstanding support for the private sector through the Saudi Export Program, which provides credit facilities and financing guarantees aimed at boosting Saudi exports and increasing the participation of national companies in overseas development projects. The fund has also conducted assessments of the key challenges facing Saudi firms operating abroad, following requests for investors to identify obstacles hindering local content expansion and the prioritization of Saudi products in international projects. Over the past five decades, the Saudi Fund for Development has financed nearly 800 development projects and programs worth more than SAR 81 billion ($21.6 billion) in over 100 developing countries. The scale of these investments reflects growing opportunities for Saudi contractors, engineering consultancies, and suppliers to expand their international presence and investment reach worldwide.
