Saudis Bolster Local Manufacturing Drive With SoftBank Venture - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia’s new $100 billion investment firm announced a string of deals Tuesday, including a partnership with SoftBank Group Corp., aimed at transforming the kingdom into an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse.
The new vehicle, Alat, and SoftBank will invest up to $150 million to establish a fully-automated manufacturing and engineering hub in Riyadh, according to a statement. The venture will build industrial robots based on intellectual property developed by SoftBank and its affiliates, with the first factory set to open in December.
“With this initial set-up, we predict a contribution of $1 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2025,” Alat Chief Executive Officer Amit Midha said in the statement. “Our ambition is to fundamentally transform industrial manufacturing by robots, manufactured in the kingdom.”
Chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and backed by the Public Investment Fund, Alat was created to sign deals with international players and invest in large industrial firms that the kingdom wants to see set up operations locally. The firm plans to invest $100 billion by 2030.
No comments:
Post a Comment