Saudi Arabia’s Commission for Tourism and National Heritage has set aside 397 million riyals ($105.86 million) for 2017 to support a new lending program for hospitality and tourism projects, according to a statement by state news agency SPA.

The announcement could indicate the Saudi government is accessing funding for its National Transformation Program (NTP), a set of ambitious development targets announced in June.

According to the NTP, which aims to develop new private sectors and diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil, the tourism lending programme will total three billion riyals over five years.

So far, the commission has received 40 requests for funding from investors working on hotel and tourism projects, of which eight, to the tune of 424 million riyals, have been sent to the Ministry of Finance for approval, the statement said.

The commission is still reviewing a further 11 requests valued at 190 million riyals.

The total five-year budget for NTP initiatives is 268 billion riyals.