Careem, a leading multi-service platform in the region, has partnered with King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company, to upgrade and streamline the travel experience for residents and visitors of KAFD, the country’s prime business and lifestyle hub. The agreement was signed on Sept. 12 in a ceremony hosted at Cityscape Global Riyadh.

Set in the heart of the Saudi capital Riyadh, KAFD features 1.6 million square meters of state-of-the-art office space, world-class facilities and iconic luxury residences, designed to transform the way urban communities live, work, and play. A 22-kilometer drive from King Khalid Airport, KAFD is a key driver of Riyadh’s economic ambitions and is the largest LEED certified mixed-use financial district in the world. It is owned and managed by the KAFD DMC.

Home to the Kingdom’s first cinema, KAFD is recognized for its exclusive business and lifestyle offering and advanced smart city solutions. By 2025, it is expected that 100,000 people will live and work in the district whose five asset classes will include more than 70 F&B outlets, three hotels, and an array of entertainment options. 

Careem will launch more dedicated solutions to make travel smoother and more reliable at KAFD, such as special tools to manage ride-hailing requests in high-density pickup locations, an enhanced navigation experience for captains and directional features to guide customers on how to reach meeting points. Multiple convenient spaces for pickups and pre-arranged staging areas will be dedicated for Careem captains. 

“Amidst the growing global awareness of sustainable transportation solutions, and recognizing the pressing need to address environmental challenges, KAFD remains dedicated to fostering a greener and more efficient urban landscape,” said Gautam Sashittal, chief executive of KAFD DMC. “In line with our mobility strategy at KAFD, we are excited to welcome Careem’s ride-hailing service to our district as it promises to reduce passenger vehicles, helping to lower both carbon emissions and traffic. Most importantly, with the addition of Careem, our tenants, residents, employees, and visitors will benefit from the increased availability of transport options within the district.”

Ahmad Arrabi, Careem’s general manager for ride-hailing in Saudi Arabia, said: “KAFD has grown rapidly into one of the region’s leading business and lifestyle hubs, attracting people from all across the world to live and work there. We’re delighted to collaborate with the KAFD team to make transport in and out of the district more seamless than ever.”

Careem launched ride-hailing services in Saudi Arabia in 2013, commencing operations in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Dhahran and Alkhobar before expanding to reach 26 cities across the Kingdom. The “everything app” now offers multiple services to customers in Saudi Arabia, including ride-hailing, inter city transport, food delivery, and home cleaning, all in one application. More than 75,000 Saudi nationals use the Careem app as a flexible source of income.