DAVOS: Saudi Arabia is becoming a regional hub for testing the use of new technologies as efforts to diversify the national economy continue, the minister of industry and mineral resources, Bandar Alkhorayef, told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.
The Kingdom has established national organizations such as the Saudi Data and AI Authority and the Future Factories Program to regulate and help businesses adopt new technologies that utilize artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D printing and robotics, he added.
This smart infrastructure market is projected to be worth $2 trillion within the next 10 years, up from an estimated $900 billion in 2024, driven by growth in the integration of physical and digital industrial operations.
Alkhorayef said Saudi Arabia places a priority on manufacturing and has embraced the use of the latest technologies in sectors such as renewable energy and electric vehicles, as the Kingdom embarks on ambitious plans to transform traditionally industrial cities into modern smart cities.
“The investors coming to these cities (will find) a ‘plug-and-play’ kind of support,” he said, as authorities take steps to attract businesses and global talent to work and invest, and to establish the country as a regional hub for technological research, development and innovation.
The Kingdom’s Future Factories Program, for example, aims to provide training initiatives and loans to help 4,000 factories adopt new technologies, embrace automation and improve manufacturing efficiency.
“We’re very bold when it comes to testing new ideas and technologies,” Alkhorayef added, which makes it “interesting for new players to see (Saudi Arabia) as a place where they can not only seek financing or investment but also a place to test and pilot certain ideas.”
Such endeavors are endorsed by some of the country’s biggest corporations, including the chemical manufacturing company SABIC, the petroleum company Aramco, and the mining giant Maaden. Aramco, for example, has already adopted new technologies, including AI, to enhance productivity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Alkhorayef was speaking during a WEF discussion titled “Next-Gen Industrial Infrastructure.” The other panelists included representatives of the African Union Commission, businesses and consulting firms.
Currently, up to 50 percent of Saudi Arabia’s deep-tech startups are focused on the development of AI or the Internet of Things, Alkhorayef said, as the country increasingly adopts digitalization in the public and private sectors.
The Saudi Data and AI Authority, established in 2019 to regulate and promote the national agenda for a data-driven economy, has said that AI is making significant contributions to operational efficiency. In 2023, global spending on AI exceeded $120 billion, with more than 72 percent of organizations incorporating the technology into at least one business area.
“We believe that adopting technology in the mining sector will lead to safer, more productive and energy-efficient mines,” Alkhorayef said by way of an example, adding that it is essential that authorities consider environmental protection as they seek to strike the right balance between the interests of investors and the local community.
“Making digitalization accessible is an important part of what we do (in the Kingdom),” he said. “It involves regulation, cybersecurity, human capital training, and investing in incubators to work and learn.
“In every sector, such as food, energy or mining, (we always ask) the question of how technology could be helpful.”
