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Yesterday, Wednesday, as part of the launch event, which is the largest technical event in the Middle East and North Africa region, hosted by the Saudi capital Riyadh, the Saudi-Chinese fund eWTP Arabia Capital, which seeks to support emerging technology companies. in the Kingdom with a capital of a billion and a half dollars, was announced.
The fund was launched in partnership between Alibaba-backed Chinese eWTP and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, with support from the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, to help support a system strong business case for digital commerce in the Kingdom.
Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology backbone of the Alibaba Group, aims to cooperate with local partners in the region over the next five years in academies, training and innovation centers in the Kingdom, to build and develop capacity in technical areas, and to support the vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2030.
A market full of opportunities
In an interview with Al Arabiya, Jessica Wong, co-founder of eWTP Arabia Capital, said: “The fund is supported by the eWTP Global Innovation Fund led by Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba Group, as well as the Fund. Saudi public investment. Through this fund, we are committed to investing in contributing to the local technological environment here in Saudi Arabia and covering all available opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa.
She added: “During the last 18 months, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been very lucky with the support of our strategic partners, and thanks to this cooperation we have been able to invest and finance more than ten companies. . A notable example is the joint investment of $ 500 million in cloud services between eWTP Arabia Capital fund, Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology arm of Alibaba, and stc, one of the largest telecommunications operators in the world. region.
And she continued, “We are investing heavily in the areas of cybersecurity, the logistics industry and a number of technical and service areas.”
In the Saudi market, eWTP co-founder Arabia Capital said: “Compared to other emerging markets, Saudi Arabia is a great market to explore, and it is definitely the biggest opportunity for investors. foreigners and locals like us. “
She continued, “I encourage all of our industry counterparts to start opening their eyes to explore the opportunities with us. Here all miracles happen and we are encouraged by the passion of local entrepreneurs and their pursuit of a path. successful in the years to come, and we are honored to be a part of it. “
Programs and initiatives
At the launch event, Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Engineer Abdullah bin Amer Al-Sawaha, revealed the making of the first smart chips inside the Kingdom with hands and Saudi spirits that will be used in military, commercial and civilian applications. .
He announced the launch of 3 important programs in the technology and artificial intelligence sector, the first of which is the “Himma” program, the largest technical program with a package of 2.5 billion riyals to support the technology market with more than 20 products and support. for both new and advanced entrepreneurs. The second program is “Qimma” program, and the third program was called “Tuwaiq”, and its first project is “Sadaya Academy”, which is a huge project to train the new generation to operate energies and capacity building in the field of artificial intelligence.
The event saw the launch of several partnerships with 10 tech giants around the world, who announced the establishment of advanced academies for them in Riyadh.
The list included the world’s largest technology companies, leading (Google, Amazon, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, Trend Micro and Avensif Security), as they will cooperate with the Kingdom to launch their training programs, centers specializing in the ‘raising the digital capacities of young national executives, and other centers. For innovation in technological entrepreneurship.
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