RIYADH: Digital partnerships between Saudi Arabia and Iraq are on track to prosper after a top ministerial meeting between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah Al-Swaha, met with his Iraqi counterpart, Hayam Al-Yasiri, during her visit to Saudi Arabia. The discussions focused on exploring new opportunities for joint investments in the field, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The meeting also tackled ways to further stimulate entrepreneurship that supports innovation and encourages the growth of the digital economy.
This falls in line with the Kingdom’s objective to position itself as a global leader in artificial intelligence and digital transformation under Vision 2030. Goals include increasing the digital economy’s gross domestic product contribution from 14 percent in 2022 to 19.2 percent by 2025, digitizing 92 percent of government services, and raising the information and communication technology sector’s GDP share to 4 percent.
It also aligns with Iraq’s ongoing efforts to develop a digital transformation strategy to support the private and public sectors and drive economic growth.
During the meeting, the two parties also shed light on the importance of integrating efforts to develop the digital environment, empower capabilities, and raise the level of collaborations in priority areas such as AI as well as infrastructure development.
Earlier this month, as officials convened in Riyadh during the 19th Internet Governance Forum, Saudi Arabia also explored partnership opportunities with Germany, Japan, and France in emerging technologies, AI, and digital infrastructure.
Held from Dec. 15 to 19 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center, the UN-organized forum assembled global leaders to endorse global digital cooperation and address emerging challenges related to Internet governance.
At the forum’s opening at the time, the Kingdom revealed the Riyadh Declaration, a commitment to developing inclusive and responsible AI technologies in an attempt to address global challenges and drive economic value.
In November, Saudi senior tech diplomat Deemah Al-Yahya, the secretary-general of the multilateral Digital Cooperation Organization, held talks with Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani, about support for Baghdad’s plans to develop its digital business and AI sectors.
The two sides discussed Iraq’s digital transformation strategy and the need to create and develop a workforce with the tech skills required to help grow the Iraqi economy effectively, SPA said at the time.
