Naver, Saudi Arabia's NHC to build JV

South Korea’s Naver Corp. said on Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia’s National Housing Company (NHC), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, to establish a joint venture.

The signing ceremony took place during the Cityscape 2024 event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Monday to Thursday last week.

Attendees included Naver's Foreign and ESG Policy CEO Chae Seon-Ju, Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yoo-won, and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Majid Al-Hogail.

Naver emphasized that this move adds a new Saudi-focused business unit, supplementing the establishment of Naver Arabia (tentatively named), which oversees its operations in the Middle East.

The new joint venture will operate and commercialize digital twin platforms within Saudi Arabia.

NHC, a state-owned company handling 70% of real estate transactions in Saudi Arabia, is tasked with driving digital innovation in the country’s real estate sector and building smart cities.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com