The telecom sector in Saudi Arabia is also now becoming attractive to outside investors, says Assistant Minister Munir El-Desouki.
More than $2.13 billion of foreign investment has poured into Saudi Arabia’s IT market, Assistant Minister Munir El-Desouki has revealed. Speaking as part of a virtual Fintech tour, El-Desouki argued the telecom sector in the Kingdom is also now becoming attractive to outside investors.
“With the unlimited support it received from our government and in partnership with the private sector, we were able to jump the Kingdom’s ranking in internet speeds from the 105th to the 6th globally,” he said.
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“We invested in minds to bridge the digital skills gap. We trained more than 55,000 male and female trainees in qualitative digital skills as part of the Future Skills initiative,” he added.
El-Desouki said the ministry has helped increase the Saudization rate in the sector to 58 per cent and has also seen the participation rate of women rise from 7 per cent in 2017 to 28 per cent.
The ministry launched the National Information Technology Development Program with a budget of $6.66 billion to strengthen the telecom system, increase its effectiveness, and ensure its sustainability.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is determined to raise the digital economy’s contribution to the Kingdom’s domestic product, Vice Minister of Communications and Information Technology Haytham Al-Ohali said.
He added that the ministry actively contributes to developing the financial technology market with its partners in the government and private sectors.
