Naver Corp, the operator of South Korea’s leading internet portal, says it has plans to establish a Middle Eastern unit in Saudi Arabia within this year as part of efforts to expand its global business.
Founded in 1999 as a search platform, Naver has grown into a global technology company with cutting-edge technologies and a diverse business portfolio including search, commerce, fintech, content, cloud, and AI.
The Korea Economic Daily says that Naver Corp has been actively seeking to unlock opportunities in the Middle East with its new growth engines, artificial intelligence, cloud and robotics. It will join the Saudi Arabian government’s Regional HQ (RHQ) programme to open its Middle Eastern headquarters office – Naver Arabia – before the end of 2024.
The RHQ Programme is a joint initiative by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City which offers foreign businesses incentives to come to the country as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and National Investment Strategy.
The Korea Economic Daily suggests that with the new Middle Eastern headquarters, Naver is expected to join Saudi Arabia’s additional national projects in the cutting-edge technology sector and have better access to more business opportunities.
Naver apparently also plans joint ventures with multiple partners in Saudi Arabia for different projects, like a digital twin platform JV with Saudi’s Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMAH).
Earlier this month, Naver signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), which oversees AI and big data development and leads Saudi Vision 2030 projects, to jointly develop an Arabic large language model (LLM), cloud computing and robotics technologies.