Saudi Gazette report

Barcelona — Saudi Arabia manufactures some 40% of innovative material used in smartphones, according to Minister of Communication and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Sawaha.

Addressing the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona last month, Sawaha said, “95% of smartphones displayed here in MWC are made by chipsets that are made in partnership with Saudi Arabia.”

ARM, the chipset manufacturer owned by SoftBank and Vision Fund of Saudi Arabia, makes the innovative material that goes into smart phones along with SABIC, the second largest global petrochemical company.

“I’m going to share with you a story of how a nation is transforming at light speed leveraging its factor based economy and its leadership as the 18th largest economy to leapfrog into the future powered by digital technology and by you, our global and regional partners,” said the minister.

Sawaha said the Kingdom aims to become the largest digital market in the Middle East and North Africa, adding that a contribution of Smart Cities’ projects to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to reach about $2 billion by 2030.

“The expected economic impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Kingdom is estimated at $4 billion by 2030.

“The IT market in Saudi Arabia with the latest IT services, software and equipment reached about $12 billion, while the emerging technology market stood at $10 billion, placing the Kingdom among the world’s most developed markets,” he added.