Multibillion dollar ICT project in KSA

The Saudi Pension Funds and a number of Saudi Universities are jointly planning to develop a multibillion dollar project similar to the Silicon Valley of the US.

The aim is to create a base for high-tech electronics industry and boost the country's information technology sector, said the Saudi head of a US company.

Abdul Rahman Al Thuhaiban, Vice-President, Oracle (Middle East and Africa) and Managing Director, Oracle Saudi operations, told Emirates Business the Saudi Government has formally decided to go ahead with the project, but details including the total investment are not yet made public.

"The Saudi Pension Fund is setting up Smart Internet City and Silicon Valley-style project. The government has been investing several billion dollars to develop the IT sector and create world class universities, the latest being the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (Kusat), which was inaugurated last month," he said.

Al Thuhaiban said Saudi Arabia has been one of the fastest-growing IT markets for Oracle and the country was not affected by the economic crisis.

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