Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) launched six initiatives at a value of SAR 1.1 billion in 2017 ($296 million) which were included in the National Transformation Program 2020.

These initiatives are implementing currently through 98 projects with a budget that increased 79% from the year-ago period’s budget, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing the Saudi body as saying.

The SCTH’s budget is distributed over SAR 373 million as an operational budget, up 13% year-on-year, the tourism sector’s budget at a value of SAR 216 million, surging 52% from the year before, SPA added.

The Saudi commission’s budget also includes the national heritage sector's budget with an amount of SAR 506 million, soaring 246% year-on-year.

The SCTH’s budget of 2017 is considered the largest since establishing.

The Saudi government approved earlier two programmes which are included in the National Transformation Program 2020 namely: loans for touristic projects and hotels, and financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).