US, Saudi Arabia Sign 18 Agreements, Including 5G, Mars Exploration, Clean Energy

With its new vision for the future, Saudi Arabia aims at becoming the new global hub for tech and innovation, attracting talent and companies from all over the world. A set of new agreements between Riyadh and Washington fits in this strategy.

On the sidelines of the US President Joe Biden visit to Saudi Arabia, the Saudi ministers of energy, investment, communications and health have inked 18 agreements with their US counterparts.

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The agreements open new ares for cooperation between the two countries including investment, energy, information and communications technology, space and health.

• Thirteen of the agreements, signed during US President Joe Biden’s visit to the Kingdom, were made with the Ministry of Investment, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and numerous private sector companies. Among them are Boeing Aerospace, Raytheon Defense Industries, Medtronic and Digital Diagnostics, IKVIA in the healthcare sector, and many other US companies.
• The Saudi Space Authority signed the Artemis Accords with NASA, allowing for joint exploration of the Moon and Mars. The Artemis Program is an American-led effort to return humans to the Moon by 2025, with the ultimate goal of expanding space exploration to other planets.

• The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signed a memorandum of cooperation with IBM to upskill 100,000 young women and men over five years within eight initiatives that can position the Kingdom as a hub for technology and innovation in the Middle East and North Africa.
• The ministry also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the US National Communications and Information Administration, which includes cooperation between the two countries on 5G and 6G technologies. This agreement aims at accelerating the growth of the digital economy and enhancing the pace of research, development and innovation in the Kingdom’s digital ecosystem.
• The Saudi and US energy ministries signed a partnership agreement on clean energy that includes defining areas and projects of cooperation in this sector, alongside cooperation on civil nuclear energy and uranium. The agreement also reinforces the efforts of the two countries in promoting clean energy and climate action.