Naver Arabia to Establish First Strategic Business Entity with Saudi National Housing Company Joint Venture

Establishment of Strategic Joint Venture 'Naver Innovation'
Joint Investment by Naver Cloud and NHC Innovation
Collaboration Expands from Digital Twin to Map-Based Super App

Naver Arabia, the Middle East regional headquarters of NAVER, will establish its first strategic joint venture in the region.

On May 28, Naver Cloud announced that it has completed a contract to formally begin the process of establishing a strategic joint venture with the National Housing Company (NHC) of Saudi Arabia.

At the Naver Innovation Joint Venture Contract Signing Ceremony, Chae Seonju, Head of Naver Strategic Business, Majed Al Hogail, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Rayan Al Aqil, CEO of NHC Innovation, and Han Sangyoung, Executive Director of Naver Cloud Global DX & Innovation, are posing for a commemorative photo. (Clockwise from the back left). Provided by Naver

The newly established strategic joint venture, Naver Innovation, will be the first business entity under Naver Arabia, NAVER's regional headquarters. Naver Cloud and NHC Innovation, the digital subsidiary of NHC, will jointly invest in the venture.

The strategic joint venture aims to accelerate the digital transformation of the public and residential sectors by introducing smart city technologies, and to enhance the quality of life for Saudi Arabian citizens.

Naver Innovation will focus on the development and operation of a map-based super app as its core business. Through this, it aims to support various aspects of daily life for Saudi citizens and travelers, including housing and mobility. In addition, the company plans to expand its business to include existing digital twin platform-based projects.

Currently, NAVER's digital twin platform is set to be deployed in major cities across Saudi Arabia. This platform provides advanced, technology-driven urban planning features such as flood prediction, traffic flow analysis, and population distribution analysis. Both companies emphasized that, through this newly established joint venture, they are committed to building a data-driven, sustainable smart city of the future.

Through the new joint venture, Naver Cloud has created an opportunity to expand its business in the Middle East. The company plans to optimize and provide reservation, payment, and personalization technologies?already developed and operated in Korea?to suit the infrastructure and cultural characteristics of Saudi Arabia.

Rayan Al Aqil, CEO of NHC Innovation, stated, "The establishment of this joint venture reflects Saudi Arabia's commitment to introducing world-class technology while localizing solutions to meet the needs of the local community. Together with Naver Cloud, we will build a smart city that aligns with the Vision 2030 goals of sustainability, innovation, and improved quality of life."

Kim Yoowon, CEO of Naver Cloud, said, "We are honored to join local partners in Saudi Arabia on this journey toward digital transformation and innovation. Naver Cloud will actively collaborate to help Saudi Arabia lead innovation in the smart city sector."

Meanwhile, Naver Cloud and NHC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the establishment of a joint venture at Cityscape 2024, the world's largest construction exhibition, held in Saudi Arabia in November 2023. In October 2023, NAVER was awarded a project by the Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing to build a digital twin platform, and since last year has been actively building this platform in major cities across Saudi Arabia.