Saudi Arabia’s Events Investment Fund has acquired a stake in Tahaluf, the Saudi Arabian large-scale live events company.
EIF’s investment forms part of its plan to develop a sustainable infrastructure for the culture, tourism, entertainment, and sports sectors across the Kingdom.
The Tahaluf was created through a strategic joint venture between Informa, the leading international events, digital services, B2B markets, and academic knowledge group, and the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones (SAFCSP).
Lord Stephen Carter, Group CEO of Informa, said that, “Tahaluf is a dynamic and ambitious initiative, and we are proud that Informa’s expertise is part of delivering world-class, sustainable events in Saudi Arabia. The incredible success of events such as LEAP has demonstrated the power of the Tahaluf collaboration, and this increased investment will accelerate its impact across sectors.”
By leveraging the expertise of all its investors, Tahaluf will launch new B2B and B2C events, focused on strategically important sectors such as technology, real estate, pharmaceuticals, food, health and beauty, tourism, and hospitality.
According to the statement, “Following the highly successful launches of award-winning tech events LEAP and Black Hat Middle East, and the artificial intelligence event DeepFest in the Kingdom, Tahaluf plans to launch further diverse original concept events, including the Saudi Maritime Congress, Global Health Exhibition and Inflavour, for the food industry.”
Tahaluf will also bring iconic Informa brands to Saudi Arabia including CityScape, CPHI, and Cosmoprof, serving the global real estate, pharmaceutical, and beauty industries respectively.
To serve the longer-term strategy, partners of the joint venture plan to establish an events training academy to bring globally recognized certification and training for young Saudi nationals.
These ventures support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objective of diversifying its economy, attracting foreign investment, and creating high-value employment opportunities for Saudi citizens, as well as contributing to EIF’s mission, as per the statement.
Mr. Ahmed Al Jasser, EIF’s Acting CEO, stated that, “We at EIF are delighted to be part of this joint venture with such an internationally renowned industry leader and look forward to working closely with Tahaluf as we develop the nascent MICE ecosystem in the Kingdom together and move forward in our mission to develop a world-class entertainment and events infrastructure.”
“This will position the Kingdom as a global hub for international events in the region, in line with Vision 2030 plans, and support the kingdom’s delivery of an ambitious national events calendar and create sustainable financial returns to support the country’s economic diversification efforts,” Mr. Al Jasser added.
