Animoca Brands, a Web3 games developer, and the NEOM Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced a new partnership on October 30 to promote Web3 development in the region.
According to the announcement, Animoca will collaborate with NEOM to develop Web3 enterprise service capabilities as part of the new agreement.
The planned Web3 services are intended for global application, but they will initially be deployed to support emergent technology developments in the Saudi capital of Riyadh and the NEOM region.
The government is transforming NEOM, a region in northwest Saudi Arabia, into a “living laboratory” for a new future society. It is envisioned as a center for innovation and hyper-connected with emerging technologies.
The Animoca partnership intends to establish a hub within NEOM to support the local Web3 ecosystem. This initiative is part of Saudi Arabia’s larger “Saudi Vision 2030” strategy for increased economic, social, and cultural diversification.
The CEO of NEOM Investment Fund, Majid Mufti, commented on the development:
“Web3 technology and infrastructure development will not only be an important foundation of NEOM’s tech stack and architecture but also has potential to revolutionize global industries.”
In addition, the NEOM Investment Fund intends to invest $50 million in Animoca Brands.
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, characterized an element of his vision for the Web3 ecosystem as “the emergence of a new meta-nation.” In light of this new agreement with NEOM, he stated:
“Now NEOM could well become the first region to fully harness the power of blockchain.”
In recent years, the greater Middle East region’s adoption of emergent technologies has accelerated significantly. In addition to its NEOM initiative, Saudi Arabia has recently collaborated with Chinese universities to develop an Arabic-based artificial intelligence (AI) system for query processing in its native language.
OpenAI, the creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, announced a partnership with G42, a Dubai-based technology holding company, on October 18. The partnership will concentrate on Middle East expansion.
