Misk Foundation Partners with Bloomberg L.P. to Advance Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 with Major Investments in Financial Training and Global Market Capabilities

NEW YORK, March 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a meeting between Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Michael R. Bloomberg, the Misk Foundation and Bloomberg L.P., the global business and financial information leader, today announced several initiatives to enhance the financial and market capabilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These initiatives will advance Saudi Arabia's efforts to develop robust finance courses, attract foreign capital, and help Saudi companies compete internationally; key components of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 plan to establish a thriving economy.

His Excellency Bader Al Asaker, Chairman of the Board of Misk Initiatives Center said, "His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman founded Misk with a mission to empower young Saudis to become active participants in the knowledge economy. To help achieve this vital work, we partner with international organizations to equip Saudi youth with the skills they need and we work to create the enabling ecosystem that entrepreneurs as well as more established businesses need to thrive. Bloomberg has already been a dedicated partner on this journey by helping educate young Saudis about economics and finance and we are thrilled to be deepening our partnership with a true leader in world business and financial information. Through the projects mentioned in this MoU, we can build capabilities, better link our universities and corporations, and ultimately accelerate the growth opportunities across the Kingdom. This will help our young people lead our economic development and meet the challenge of change."

The partnership between the Misk Foundation and Bloomberg includes two key areas of collaboration:

Providing financial training and technology at Saudi universities: Bloomberg will equip the next generation of Saudi leaders with financial expertise by working with 30 Saudi Arabian universities on a comprehensive financial training effort targeting 262,000 students. This will include dedicated trainings for each university, support for faculty staff and professors to integrate capital markets content into their curricula, Bloomberg terminals at each university and networks to establish a bridge between universities and the professional world.

Supporting Saudi corporations with training, tools and resources: As Saudi markets expand and more state-owned enterprises are privatized, corporations will need professionals who understand and connect to global financial markets. The Bloomberg-Misk Foundation partnership will provide investor relations professionals, CFOs, treasury and finance departments at Saudi corporations with a suite of hands-on training and Bloomberg terminal access, as well as access to Bloomberg's market specialists, economists and events.

"I applaud the vision of the Crown Prince and the Misk Foundation for taking concrete actions to diversify and further grow their economy," said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies. "Saudi Arabia is the first country in the world to create a top-down, country-wide financial training program that fully leverages Bloomberg's resources, and I'm confident it will empower the region and advance Saudi Arabia's global competitiveness."

In January, Bloomberg and the Misk Foundation hosted an intensive, week-long financial journalism training program in Dubai for 30 Saudi-based students. The interactive course, led by Matthew Winkler, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus and more than 20 Bloomberg reporters and analysts, focused on the importance of data-driven journalism.

ABOUT MISK FOUNDATION
Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Foundation (the MiSK Foundation) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation established by H.R.H. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to discover, develop and empower Saudi youth to become active participants in the knowledge economy. MiSK specifically focuses on four key areas: education, creative and digital media, technology, and culture and arts. MiSK pursues this agenda both through its own programs, and through partnerships with local and global organizations. https://Misk.org.sa/en/  

ABOUT BLOOMBERG L.P.
Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The company's strength – delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately – is at the core of the Bloomberg Terminal. Bloomberg's enterprise solutions build on the company's core strength: leveraging technology to allow customers to access, integrate, distribute and manage data and information across organizations more efficiently and effectively. For more information, visit www.bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.

SOURCE Bloomberg