Investment Saudi Arabia and Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu have signed a milestone agreement with leading information and communications technology (ICT) company Huawei to establish a training academy and a smart city innovation centre in Yanbu region of the kingdom, accelerating smart city deployment in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of King Salman bin Abdulaziz visit to China and during the 2017 ‘Saudi-China Investment Forum.’

It was organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Investment in co-operation with Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) and the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) along with Saudi Aramco.

As per the deal, the smart city innovation center - which is the first of its kind in the region, is set to open this year. The academy too will open for training soon.

On the agreement, Dr Alaa bin Abdullah Nassif, the CEO of the Royal Commission of Yanbu and Jazan Economic City, said: "Enforcing the directives of the wise leadership and with the aim of achieving the strategic goal of developing a unique city that is technologically advanced based on global standards of smart cities, the Royal Commission of Yanbu established and developed the first smart city in the Saudi Arabia through partnerships with several private sector companies."

"Today, we signed a partnership deal with one of the leading companies, Huawei, to develop and establish the smart city innovation center - which is the first of its kind in the region - as well as developing the Huawei training academy in order to transfer the knowledge and global experience in the technology field," he noted.

In order to build the most skilled team in the kingdom, Huawei will be supplying the latest in lab equipment, training instructors, monitoring talent development and other proactive knowledge sharing initiatives.

The smart city innovation center is also begged to be open in 2017, and will aim to support Saudi Arabia 2020 transformation program focused on growing their digital economy. The center will be home to innovative smart city technology, providing a platform for the two parties to create, build and deploy new services in Yanbu industrial city.

Ramadan Ding, the CEO of Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabia, said it is proud to be a strategic partner to the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu in developing local ICT capabilities that will support the development and implementation of His Majesty’s 2030 vision for the Kingdom.

"Huawei’s advanced smart city innovation coupled with its global leadership in research and development will ultimately benefit the people of Saudi Arabia. Huawei reaffirms its full support and commitment to the Kingdom and its people," he added.-TradeArabia News Service