South Korea’s 17 small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been confirmed to participate in the Saudi-Korean Industrial Village (SKIV) project in Saudi Arabia, in which the Saudi royal family and government will invest about 10 trillion won ($7.52 billion) in the first round. It is unprecedented for Saudi Arabia to open its doors to SMEs from a single country and create an industrial complex. The move comes as Saudi Arabia is seeking to reduce its reliance on oil and shift economic focus to high-tech manufacturing.

Maeil Business Newspaper has learned on Sunday that 17 Korean SMEs have recently completed the establishment of a local joint venture with Saudi International Industrial Village Company (SIIVC) and will hold a contract signing ceremony for land acquisition in the economic special zone city of Jazan in southwestern Saudi Arabia in the second week of October.

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