Saudi Arabia has announced that it will be launching a $15 billion technology fund to advance the digital infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
The public-private partnership was announced by Haytham AlOhali, vice minister of the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) while speaking at the Saudi 4th Industrial Revolution conference held in Riyadh, Arab News reported.
Telecom and technology operators invest between $3 billion and $4 billion annually in digital infrastructure, fiber infrastructure, Internet networks and 5G services, and this is not enough for Saudi Arabia to take a lead, said AlOhali.
The public-private partnership will deploy the $15 billion in the kingdom’s infrastructure, he said. It will invest in robotics, artificial intelligence, and wireless technology.
The investments in the fourth industrial technology are expected to reach $200 billion in the Kingdom, with value creation coming from improved efficiency and reduction in cost over a 10-year period, said AlOhali.
“We will transform in Saudi Arabia into an economy based on technology, information, capabilities and skills, and it will bear fruit for the future with huge investments from more than 10,000 industrial facilities worth $25 billion,” Arab News quoted AlOhali as saying in the conference.
There are 13,000 solar energy centers that rely on 5G to implement their services, with 10 million smart meters in the Kingdom, while 60 percent of cities are covered by 5G and 45 percent of the Kingdom’s populated areas receive 5G, he said.
