Riyadh – Mubasher: Batic Investments and Logistics Company (Batic) has sealed a deal with Huawei to provide innovative smart city solutions in Saudi Arabia in tandem with the digital transformation initiatives and the Saudi Vision 2030.

The deal was facilitated via Batic’s digital arm subsidiary, the Smart City Solutions Company, according to a stock exchange statement on Monday.

Through the partnership, the two parties will plan and implement their smart projects while engineering and designing solutions provided to partners in the kingdom. Jointly, they will operate smart cities platform and services that include primary services such as parking lots, transportation, reduction of energy consumption, along with a comprehensive range of security and safety services.

Under the framework of this deal, smart car parks, smart lighting, and video analytics using Artificial intelligence (AI) and modern information and communication technology infrastructure will be implemented for a car park project covering the cities of Khobar, Dammam, and Dhahran

The signing ceremony took place on 28 June between the CEO of the Smart Cities Solutions, Adnan Al Morshid, and the general manager of Huawei Enterprise in the Kingdom, Taojing, and was attended by senior officials from the two parties.

Commenting on the collaboration, Al Morshid said: “Through this distinguished agreement, Smart Cities Solutions and Huawei will cooperate in supplying the market with an integrated portfolio of services and models for operating smart cities that can be customised for various government, private sectors, and special purposes economic regions.”

The regional president of Huawei Enterprise - Middle East, David J. Y., added that the partnership will allow Huawei “to enter smart cities market in the kingdom with a set of innovative models, through which [they] will collaborate with BATIC partners of cities developers and operators in finding solutions to risks and seizing the distinct opportunities provided by the market.”

It is noteworthy that BATIC is the first to operate smart cities in Saudi Arabia, including the largest project in the Eastern Region with a total value of SAR 1.300 billion spanning for 25 years.