Minister of Education Dr. Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Issa will launch «Investment & Finance in Educational Buildings Conference» today (Jan. 10) at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education in Riyadh. Organized by the Ministry of Education and Tatweer Buildings Company (TBC), the conference aims to enhance the public-private partnership horizons in the area of educational facilities and buildings. The participants will include about 35 speakers representing various government entities and the employees of banking and investment sectors, including Minister of Commerce and Investment Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, and Vice Minister of Finance Dr. Hamad Al Bazai. The two-day conference, which is a part of the efforts exerted to strengthen the public-private partnership to provide educational buildings, will discuss opportunities and options of investment and finance in the educational buildings, as well as the investor-attracting environment in the education field as per the Kingdom›s 2030 Vision, and the role played by the education development companies in enhancing the investment environment. It aims to increase the volume of accelerated finance with the private sector, reduce the State›s operating expenses, control the increase of public debt and provide qualitative expertise on local, regional and international practices, experiences and initiatives in public-private partnership (PPP). The Conference›s Organization Committee Head Ahmed Al Anazy said the conference would open new investment channels to provide the educational buildings and make use of the Ministry of Education›s resources through targeting several segments including investors and developers in the education sector and those operating in the real estate sector on both local and regional levels, as well as financial companies and institutions so that it offers long-term programs and solutions that generate adequate returns to the target entities. He noted that the most significant investment opportunities offered by the conference would relate to the mechanisms to finance school buildings through leasing the existing educational buildings in consideration of advance amounts and leasing back them for annual payments. The Conference will also offer lease and lease-back programs, mechanisms of partnerships with the private sector, as well as the partnership with the private education sector, and the mechanism of asset investment. Al Anazy pointed out that the two-day conference includes six sessions and several workshops so that the opening session titled «Investor-attracting Environment in Education Sector as per Kingdom›s Vision 2030 would include several topics. Such topics focus on the Kingdom›s economic tendencies, the horizons of partnership with the Private Sector in the education field, the significance of quality educational buildings in the national development system, and the role by the government entities in enhancing the regulatory environment. The first session titled «Opportunities and Options of Investment & Finance in Educational Buildings» will focus on many topics including the State›s support to the programs of privatization and partnership with the private sector in the area of educational buildings and facilities, the opportunities of Lease and Lease-Back (LLB) and the opportunities of Building, Maintenance and Transportation (BMT) using the public-private partnership (PPP). In the Second Session titled «Endowment to Support and Finance Investment in Education», pioneering experiences in the endowment area will be highlighted, and the regulatory environment that supports endowment in the education sector will be discussed. The Third Session, to be held in the second day, will focus on the role played by the government companies in the development activity and the investment-attracting environment. The Fifth Session titled «Innovative Solutions to Investment & Finance in Educational Buildings» will focus on stimulating the private sector to participate in introducing new methods of investment, while the closing session will discuss the industrial investment opportunities in educational buildings.
