Author: Arab NewsMon, 2017-03-06ID: 1488756950564783100RIYADH: Loans totaling SR3 billion have been allocated to fund hotel and tourist projects through 2020, including SR397 million for the current year, the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting an official of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH).Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Samail, deputy SCTH president for investment and tourism development, said the Cabinet approved the initiative for loans to finance hotel and tourism projects within the National Transformation Program (NTP 2020).The lending program by the NTP represents a real launch for the tourist-funding program, upon which the SCTH depends to stimulate tourist projects in all regions, he said.He said work was underway to process tourist project funding requests. So far, 40 requests have been received, and eight processed requests were sent to the Ministry of Finance for approval.The costs of the eight funding requests, which have been submitted to the Ministry of Finance, stood at SR424 million, Al-Samail said.He said the SCTH carried out 14 workshops across the Kingdom to acquaint attendees on project lending conditions and terms, as well as designing and printing 10,000 copies of brochures.Al-Samail said the SCTH was working with the Kafala Program (loan guarantee program), a subsidiary of Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), to support tourist projects, especially small- and medium-sized projects. Last year, the SCTH signed a deal with the Kafala Program to expand loan guarantees for tourist projects, he said.
Main category: Saudi Arabia
September 12, 2024
