The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) Signs MoU with Ant International to Expand Business in Saudi Arabia, Supporting Regional Digital Innovation
May 10 2024 - 9:36AM
Business Wire
- The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ant International to welcome
and facilitate its business expansion in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
- The agreement paves the way for Ant International to establish
a new entity in Saudi Arabia, to better work with local partners
and serve local customers with its full suite of innovative
technologies and products.
The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ant International, to
facilitate the business expansion into the Kingdom.
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Ant International’s President, Douglas Feagin, met with Mr. Eng
Saleh Khabti, Deputy Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia during
a signing ceremony held in Riyadh, to welcome the new partnership
and sign an agreement outlining shared goals for technological
innovation and economic growth opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
Through this partnership, MISA welcomes and supports Ant
International’s expansion plan to establish an entity in Saudi
Arabia, enabling assistance when acquiring licences and
certificates to expand and enhance its service offerings.
Ant International will use Saudi Arabia as a key gateway into
the Middle East to further expand the reach of its payment and
financial services. Local merchants of all sizes will benefit from
riding the wave of digitalization to achieve further growth.
Mr. Eng Saleh Khabti, Deputy Minister for Investment at MISA
said “we have worked closely with Ant International on its
expansion into the Kingdom which will not only benefit thousands of
merchants across the country but potentially hundreds of thousands
of businesses right across the Middle East. We are seeing
tremendous growth in digital payments in Saudi Arabia and we expect
this trend to continue with Ant International’s expansion which
will further boost the financial services sector in the
Kingdom.”
Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International, said “we see an
enormous opportunity for expansion in the Middle East and in
particular Saudi Arabia, which has been supportive of technological
innovations and digitalization, empowering its businesses to
thrive.”
“Through our agreement with MISA, Ant International enters an
exciting new chapter of opportunity within Saudi Arabia. We’re
delighted to build upon our progress in the Middle East to support
merchants’ access to our world class payment solutions and
inclusive financial services, providing Saudi businesses with
various tools to grow and benefit from international travel and
trade.”
Ant International’s strategy is comprised of four services for
global merchants: (i) Alipay+ cross-border mobile payment and
digitalization technology solutions, (ii) Antom merchant payment
services, (iii) WorldFirst digital payment and financial services
for cross-border trade, and (iv) ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale
bank regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and other
embedded financial services.
About Ant International
Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International powers the future
of global commerce with digital innovation for everyone and every
business to thrive. In close collaboration with partners, we
support merchants of all sizes worldwide to realize their growth
aspirations through a comprehensive range of tech-driven digital
payment and financial services solutions.
About the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia
(MISA)
The rapid economic growth and diversification of Saudi Arabia’s
economy under the Vision 2030 plan is unlocking foreign direct
investment (FDI) opportunities at an unprecedented pace. The
Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) is facilitating
access to these opportunities by nurturing a vibrant
cross-government investment ecosystem.
MISA coordinates across the Saudi government to create a
competitive investment environment that provides stability and
clarity for investors. It does so by spearheading business friendly
policies and regulatory reforms, creating investment incentives,
facilitating investment data, opening investment opportunities
across diverse sectors, and supporting Saudi companies to partner
with and attract investment from foreign counterparts.
MISA is responsible for overseeing the implementation of Saudi
Arabia’s National Investment Strategy (NIS), an ambitious plan
launched in October 2021 to make private sector investors – both
local and international – true partners in development, with state
investment helping to de-risk, enable and ‘crowd-in’ investment.
The NIS aims to triple investment, increase FDI from SAR 17bn to
SAR 338bn, and grow investment as a percentage of GDP to 30% by
2030.
For more information on MISA, please visit our website or
connect with #MISA on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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Ant International Joshua Way Joshua.way@antgroup.com