The Social Development Bank (SDB) has increasingly financed a record number of health facilities during the first half of 2020 compared to the corresponding period of 2019, logging a growth of 30% in 2020. The hike the number of facilities financed comes in line with the bank's keenness to accelerate the approval of funds for existing facilities in the health care sector. The increase also enabled the industry continue its business and increase both production and services, which contributed positively to supporting the current efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic. SDB has approved a support program concurrently, with the bank's focus on harnessing all resources to directly contribute to speeding up the financing and supporting its customers during the crisis. The bank has approved funds for 42 facilities with a value of SR160,000,000 with regard to healthcare product. The funds were distributed to carry out different health activities including hospitals, specialized clinics, and medical products factories, covering different regions in Saudi Arabia. The bank has recently launched "Healthcare Portfolio" to support, established and new, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 12 fields licensed by the Ministry of Health. Through the launch of "Healthcare Portfolio", the bank seeks to provide fast financing to enable health facilities to grow and contribute to support economic growth and maintain employment rates. In addition the bank hopes to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030, to contribute to the national economy, and to strengthen Saudi Arabia's position in health and medicine indicators. For his part, the bank's Executive Vice President for the Facilities Financing Sector Ahmed Bin Ali Al Zahrani, confirmed that the bank was keen to launch packages of programs and initiatives in support of the health sector, to contribute to overcoming this crisis. He added that the launch of Healthcare Product with a value of SR2 billion is focused on funding new and existing medical activities to increase their operating capacity and accelerate its work and the scope of its services. Al Zahrani added that the Healthcare Portfolio contributes to achieving the strategic goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, by increasing the contribution of small enterprises in both local content and gross domestic product, and increasing localization in the health sector. — SPA
