The Public Investment Fund Department of Saudi Arabia (PIFD) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, the Development and Investment Entertainment Company, has signed an agreement with AMC to operate AMC Cinemas in the Kingdom. The Development and Investment Entertainment Company jointly with AMC expects to open 30-40 cinemas in approximately 15 cities in Saudi Arabia over the next five years, and a total of 50-100 cinemas in approximately 25 Saudi Arabian cities by the year 2030. AMC and the Development and Investment Entertainment Company have a goal of establishing an approximate 50 percent market share of the Saudi Arabian cinema industry.

Alongside this, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information has announced that it has granted the first cinema operating license to the Development and Investment Entertainment Company, allowing AMC to operate movie theatres in Saudi Arabia.

After a 35-year ban on cinemas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Development and Investment Entertainment Company jointly with AMC will open its first theatre in Riyadh in the King Abdullah Financial District on April 18. This will be the first theatre to open in Saudi Arabia in several decades.

AMC is the world’s largest provider and operator of movie theatres. AMC’s entry into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in concert with a key objective of Vision 2030, which is to grow the entertainment sector in Saudi Arabia. As a result, the cinema industry is expected to grow to around US$1 billion in size over the coming years.

The Development and Investment Entertainment Company was fully incorporated early this year to play an active investment role in various areas of the entertainment sector, and seek to attract strategic partnerships to build the eco-system within the Kingdom.