The four-day LEAP23 event in Riyadh kicked off with the announcement of over $9 billion in investments focused on supporting future technologies, digital entrepreneurship, and tech startups.
Revealed by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Abdullah bin Amer Alswaha, during his keynote address on the event’s opening day, the investments are aimed at cementing Saudi Arabia’s position as the largest digital market in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The investments include Microsoft’s $2.1 billion in a global cloud in the Kingdom, Oracle’s $1.5 billion investment to expand its business in the region, Huawei’s $400 million investment in cloud infrastructure, and a Zoom cloud area partnership with Aramco.
The MCIT minister also stated that an additional $4.5 billion has been invested in various assets globally and locally at LEAP23.
Alswaha highlighted that the significant investments have the full support of HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. These investments are a part of the Crown Prince’s efforts to boost the technology sector, which is a rapidly growing and promising industry in Saudi Arabia with a thriving digital economy, advancements in IoT, healthtech, quantum science, space and satellite technology, fintech, and open-source initiatives.
LEAP23 aims to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and the Crown Prince remains dedicated to meeting the goals of Vision 2030 through the use of cutting-edge technologies in promising sectors.
This year, the event is expected to attract over 250,000 visitors. The event supports the kingdom’s efforts in positioning itself as a leading nation in the digital market in the Middle East and North Africa region, with active investments worth over $42 billion.
In Saudi Arabia, more than 340,000 people are employed in the digital, telecommunications, and IT sectors, with a 32.5 percent female participation rate, which surpasses those in both the EU and Silicon Valley.
Alswaha also announced plans to enhance the outcomes of LEAP23, which include diversifying the economy, localising technology, and advancing industries. He emphasised the significance of LEAP23 as one of the world’s leading annual global technology platforms and its ability to bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and attract investments to new and innovative areas.
Other notable announcements on the first day of LEAP23 included Meta opening the first Metaverse Academy in the MENA region, the launch of Hektar, a multi-content social media app by WEO Technology and Camel Lab, and the introduction of Beem, a new instant messaging app with high-quality voice and video calls, and business features by MENA Communication and STC.
At the sidelines of LEAP23, the inaugural DeepFest, in partnership with the Saudi Data & AI Authority, will bring together global leaders in AI to showcase life-changing innovations in a conference with sector-specific tracks, live demos, and an exhibition.
Themed “AI Beyond Imagination”, the conference will feature government AI initiatives and innovations from thought-leaders, big tech, data scientists, innovators, enterprises, academia, startups and more. The conference program includes tracks for clean tech, the Metaverse, and women in technology. The exhibition will feature top tech companies and breakthrough stars.
