Saudi Vision 2030 seeks to diversify income sources and stimulate investment and marketing of investment opportunities in the Kingdom in pursuit of a thriving economy. The National Transformation Program, as one of the vision's executive programs, works on developing the digital economy under the leadership of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in collaboration with an integrated system including the public and private sectors. The program's initiatives have succeeded in advancing the Kingdom in the field of communications and information technology, as the Kingdom's communications infrastructure has become among the best in the world, making it a focal point for global digital investments from major local, regional, and international companies such as Google, Alibaba, and Oracle.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha emphasized the importance of supporting efforts aimed at fostering a culture of innovation to position the Kingdom at the forefront and among advanced nations in this field, and this step in building the future. This came during the virtual inauguration of the Vision 2030 Center, attended by the Deputy Minister for Technology Industry Eng. Nawaf Al-Hoshan, Oracle's Senior Vice President for Middle East, Africa, and Central Eastern Europe Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Dhabib, and Oracle Saudi Arabia's Managing Director Eng. Fahad Al-Tareef.

Captured Opportunities

Through the work of the National Committee for Marketing Investment Opportunities, the Ministry has identified key investment opportunities in the communications and information technology sector, where:

Extensive studies have been prepared for each investment opportunity and are being published on the Invest Saudi website.

Communication with potential investors to seize these opportunities through bilateral meetings and marketing workshops, with participation in three workshops with American, British, and Saudi companies.

Vision 2030 Center

The center will support the Fourth Industrial Revolution ecosystem in the Kingdom, which is a key enabler for achieving the ambitious Vision 2030, in addition to contributing to:

Making the Kingdom a pivotal region.

A hub for data exchange.

Disseminating technical awareness and providing training for emerging generations.

Enhancing a culture of innovation, especially among startups and entrepreneurs.

Google Invests in Saudi Arabia

In a strategic partnership between Saudi Aramco and Google to provide cloud services (Google Cloud), the largest advanced Google cloud center for enterprise customers in the Kingdom was launched. This investment underscores the Kingdom's digital leadership. The partnership has contributed to several aspects, including:

Supporting entrepreneurs with solutions that reduce effort by 70% and costs by 30%.

Supporting companies and the private sector with innovative solutions in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, data, and artificial intelligence.

Strategic Alliance Agreement

The strategic alliance agreement signed by Saudi Aramco with Google Cloud includes adding the Kingdom to Google's global cloud platform region network, with support from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which will in turn establish and operate a new cloud services region in the Kingdom.

Outcomes of the Agreement

It will enable companies and organizations across the Kingdom to:

Maximize their market presence.

Provide digital products and services faster and more reliably.

A new company will be established to provide cloud solutions and services to customers, focusing on the business sector within the Kingdom.

Work During COVID-19

With the increasing reliance on internet services during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pace of digital transformation has accelerated. This collaboration is expected to meet the growing demand for IT and cloud services in the Kingdom, providing robust, reliable, and high-quality solutions. Expectations include:

Cloud computing contributions to the GDP are expected to reach SAR 10 billion by 2030.

Creation of more than 3,700 specialized job opportunities.

Notably, the policies and regulations enacted by Saudi Arabia support these strategic investments, including:

Cloud computing regulatory framework.

Adoption of the Cloud First Policy to accelerate the adoption of cloud services by encouraging government entities covered by the policy to consider cloud options first when making new IT investment decisions.

First-of-its-Kind Center in the Region

Oracle Saudi Arabia launched the Oracle Cloud Data Center, the first of its kind for cloud computing in the Middle East

and North Africa, and one of 20 Oracle centers worldwide. The Kingdom was chosen as the first location in the Middle East and Africa due to the strategic importance of the Saudi tech market. The center's launch aims to:

Provide many jobs for Saudi nationals, potentially exceeding 12,000 jobs.

Support government efforts by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and relevant entities to promote a culture of technical innovation.

Drive digital transformation by providing emerging technology platforms such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain to enable entrepreneurs and innovators to realize their ideas and projects.

Chinese Tech Giant Invests in Saudi Arabia

Alibaba Group, the Chinese tech giant, has invested in a strategic partnership with Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and supported by

the eWTP Arabia Capital investment fund, one of the largest venture capital funds in the region. The investment included:

Launch of Alibaba Cloud's cloud computing services center in Riyadh.

Injection of investments estimated at $1 billion to provide high-performance public cloud services in the Kingdom.

About the Partnership

This partnership includes selecting Riyadh as a regional hub for management and training for the Chinese group in the region.

This partnership is part of supporting the country's digital transformation ecosystem, in light of Vision 2030, which aims to build a strong digital economy and enable venture capital in innovative investments that offer the best solutions according to the highest global practices.

The partnership aims to:

Provide an integrated set of cloud products and services for businesses.

Establish the largest high-performance public cloud service targeting the Middle East and North Africa.

Contribute to training and developing local talent.

Achieve digital sustainability and increase rates of technology localization.

Accelerate the growth of the local business ecosystem, reaching the targets of building a strong digital economy over the next five years.