Saudi Arabia to cooperate with Chinese firms over digital transformation

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday that it will cooperate with Chinese firms over the digital transformation in the kingdom.

During an event held in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the kingdom announced the establishment of the Saudi-Chinese eWTP Arabia Capital Fund to support Saudi's emerging technology companies.

With a capital of 1.5 billion Saudi riyals (about ￥400 million), the fund is in partnership with the Chinese eWTp backed by Alibaba and the Public Investment Fund, with the support of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones.

Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, plans to collaborate with Saudi partners to invest in the region in the next five years in academies, training and innovation centers.

Besides, the Chinese DJI Academy, in cooperation with the kingdom's STC company, will launch the first accredited training center for drones, to serve the trainees in the kingdom and the Middle East and North Africa region.

The event also announced the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the Chinese company OneMT, the leader of the electronic games industry, and the launch of initiatives and technological programs with a total value of nearly 4 billion Saudi riyals.

Among the initiatives, the launch of "SDAIA Academy" will contribute to building and empowering the capabilities in the AI and data science in the kingdom.

Several world's leading technology companies, including Google, Amazon, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, Trend Micro and Avance Security, also announced their cooperation with Saudi Arabia to establish centers for upskilling the digital capabilities and innovation centers for tech startups.