Minister of Education Dr. Ahmed Al-Issa, inaugurated the "Investment & Finance in Educational Buildings Conference" at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Riyadh today. Organized by the Ministry of Education and Tatweer Buildings Company (TBC), the aim of the conference was to enhance public and private sector partnership in the areas of educational facilities and buildings. The participants included Minister of Commerce and Investment Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, Vice Minister of Finance Dr. Hamad Al Bazai, university presidents, deputy ministers, representatives from various government entities, and officers of the banking and investment sectors. In his opening speech, the Minister of Education extended his gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince and the Deputy Crown Prince for their unprecedented support for the development of the educational system in the Kingdom. This support came as part of their belief in building better people and shaping their national consciousness for now and the future. Al-Issa referred to the allocation of more than SR 200 billion in the state budget to support education in the Kingdom. The Ministry aspires to launch through this conference an action plan for partnership with the private sector in the area of educational facilities and buildings to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030. He added that the conference provides all stakeholders with investment and financing opportunities in educational buildings, and aims to create an attractive environment for education investors in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030. It further confirms the role of education development companies in enhancing the investment environment in order to open new investment channels and make use of the MoE's resources. The occasion will also be used to launch a package of promising investment opportunities in the area of educational buildings. The Minister of Education further called on the Kingdom's investment sector, family businesses, and investment companies to enter into a real partnership with the Ministry, represented by TBC, to achieve these objectives in compliance with the applicable laws in the Kingdom. The Minister also pointed out that regional and international experiences should be exchanged at the conference in order to materialize the partnership with the private sector. In his speech, Minister of Commerce and Investment, Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, said that the private sector is a strategic partner in education development in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030. He stressed the importance of seriously empowering the private sector and providing various investment incentives. Al-Qasabi said that the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques was paying considerable attention to the education sector as can be seen in the budget allocation of as much as SR 200 billion to the sector, representing 22% of the total budget and 5.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This stands in contrast with the allocation for education by in Britain, Germany and South Korea, representing 5.3%, 4.3% and 4.2% of the GDP respectively. "I hope this would optimally contribute to the development of the education sector," he said. The Ministry of Commerce and Investment, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, the General Authority for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and the Business Performance Improvement Committee have exerted significant efforts to overcome all obstacles in the way of investment and financing by the private sector in the education sector, Al Qasabi said. He called for forming an integrated workforce to study the way to initiate cooperation between the private and public sectors as well as identify investment opportunities in the development of educational buildings. He thanked all those who had contributed to the organization of this conference. TBC CEO Fahad bin Ibrahim Al-Hammad, stated that the MoE has made great efforts in the education sector, as it had developed more than 5,000 educational buildings over the last decade. The MoE further operates and maintains more than 22,000 educational buildings throughout the year, and follows up the restoration, rehabilitation, maintenance and expansion of many educational projects. Al Hammad added, "To ease the burden of managing and following up such projects and to be in line with the modern management variables, TBC was incorporated as the executive arm of the MoE in managing and executing the educational buildings projects. Its target is to ensure that all the Kingdom's schools are established as proper buildings and that they meet all the needs of students. Some of its other goals are to obtain effective services to quickly and flexibly manage projects, reduce the supervisory burden on the MoE, and reach optimal efficiency in delayed projects. Al-Hammad noted that the private sector's contribution has increased from 40% to 65% as per the Kingdom's 2030 Vision. "This has pushed us to give careful consideration to the mechanisms of increasing private education and provide facilities to enhance the partnership with the private sector." The partnership would involve building, managing and enhancing the quality of educational buildings, and facilitating the educational institutions' access to land. A benchmark study was conducted, covering the experience of eight countries, besides a number of analytical studies with a number of national and international consultants and experts, he said. He further added that such mechanisms which would lead to increased private sector engagement in the education development were subject to analysis and study. "Accordingly, we have concluded that the available opportunities include leasing and leasing back buildings with financial institutions, endowments and family businesses, as well as entering into partnership with developers, contractors and maintenance and operation companies to mandate them with building and maintenance projects through long-term contracts extending for 30 years, God willing." Elaborating on these opportunities, he said they include partnership with private educational institutions in construction and operation activities based on long-term contracts, and asset management and investment. These assets are those which can be disposed of or whose investment sites can be replaced with other sites for the purpose of education. A film on TBC was screened at the conference. The participating sponsors were also honored, followed by the opening of an associated exhibition, in which about 20 local and regional companies were participating.
