ORGANISER INTERVIEW
Saudi Arabia ’ s Events
Investment Fund ( EIF ), a part of the National Development Fund has acquired a stake in Tahaluf , the Saudi Arabian large-scale live events company created through a strategic joint venture between the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity , Programming and Drones ( SAFCSP ) and Informa , the international event organiser and digital services group . SELA , the Saudi-owned event production company also intends to join the joint venture in the near future . This investment aligns with EIF ’ s strategy to develop a sustainable infrastructure for the culture , tourism , entertainment and sports sectors across the Kingdom , by building multiple worldclass venues by 2030 . By leveraging Informa ’ s global expertise , 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 . Following the successful launches of 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
Left to right : Eng . Alrayan Gadouri , chief of staff , Sela ; Faisal Alkhamisi , chairman , SAFCSP ; Lord Stephen Carter , group CEO , Informa ; Ahmed Aljasser , acting CEO , EIF ; Mike Champion , CEO , Tahaluf
Harnessing growth through events in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
In July , Saudi Arabia ’ s Events Investment Fund acquired a stake in Informa JV Tahaluf . Paul Colston looks at what this means for the Kingdom ’ s MICE sector and talks exclusively to Lord Stephen Carter CBE , the group CEO of Informa
the global real estate , pharmaceutical and beauty industries respectively . In a span of two years , the founding partners of Tahaluf – SAFCSP and Informa – together with the Ministry of Communications and IT , have turned LEAP into the world ’ s highest-attended tech event with attendance reaching 172,000 in 2023 .
Tahaluf ’ s strategy is to supercharge other launch events at similar rates . The joint venture supports the Kingdom ’ s Vision 2030 with respect to diversifying the economy and increasing its share in the non-oil GDP within Saudi Arabia , by bringing global expertise and foreign direct investment into the Kingdom and creating economic and environmentally sustainable public / private partnerships . The development of the MICE ecosystem will support the contribution of the tourism sector to annual GDP , from its current rate of three per cent to a target of more than 10 % by 2030 . The acquisition of a
26 — Autumn