NEW DELHI: Indian companies are setting their sights on more tech collaboration under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the Confederation of Indian Industry said on Monday, as a delegation from the South Asian nation visited the Kingdom to explore new opportunities.
The Indian delegation, comprising unicorns and tech startups and led by CII, is in Riyadh to attend the second LEAP tech conference in the Saudi capital, where more than 100,000 global innovators and experts are expected to gather from Feb. 6-9.
Over 45 Indian companies are participating at the event, where the embassy in Riyadh launched a pavilion on Monday to facilitate potential collaboration between India and Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 holds potential to boost cooperation in tech between the two countries, CII said.
“This Vision 2030 is very important, and this is one of the areas where they are trying to collaborate,” Manish Mohan, CII senior director, told Arab News.
“We are looking for partnership in the growth story of India’s startup ecosystem, how Indian companies can collaborate with Saudi Arabia also in a big way,” he said.
The Kingdom is projected to spend over $24 billion on various technologies by 2025, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
“They are trying to move from oil economy to non-oil economy, they are trying to look at collaboration in sectors like IT, they are also trying to look at infrastructure…If you see Vision 2030, they are trying to expand and collaborate in various fields,” Mohan said.
As Indian companies hope to tap into potential cooperation in IT, technology and startups, the LEAP conference served as a good platform, he added.
During the Riyadh visit, the Indian delegation plans on taking part in various networking opportunities with global venture capitalists while also connecting with various Saudi businesses.
“There is a huge potential of IT business between India and Saudi Arabia,” the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said in a tweet.
