Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha said that the visit of US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, accompanied by leaders of major international tech firms, underscores the depth of the strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States—a relationship spanning over 90 years of cooperation across various sectors.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, Alswaha said the visit reflects the Kingdom’s growing prominence on the global digital economy map, as the largest digital economy in the region and a key hub for investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Between 2024 and 2025, Saudi Arabia attracted over $13 billion in US investments—more than 90 percent of all international investments in AI, data centers, and cloud services. These investments were made in partnership with major tech companies such as AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Groq. The minister attributed these achievements to the unwavering support of the Kingdom’s leadership and the vision of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, who is leading the Kingdom’s digital transformation under Saudi Vision 2030.

Alswaha emphasized that Saudi Arabia is investing not only in technology but also in human capital. He noted that partnerships with American firms—including Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft—are instrumental in building the largest digital talent pool in the region, now exceeding 381,000 professionals. He also highlighted the Kingdom’s global leadership in empowering women in artificial intelligence, ranking among the top countries worldwide in this field.

On the space front, Alswaha noted ongoing collaboration with US institutions, citing the historic mission that saw the first Saudi woman astronaut travel to the International Space Station. Conducted in partnership with Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX, the mission involved advanced research in health and sustainability. He noted that the Kingdom’s signing of the Artemis Accords underscores its commitment to the future $2 trillion global space economy.

The minister also drew attention to innovative partnerships with leading US universities and institutions—including MIT, Stanford, Caltech, and IBM—which have led to the establishment of 14 centers of excellence in fields such as AI, nanotechnology, and clean energy. These initiatives, he said, are bolstering the Kingdom’s knowledge production and accelerating innovation.