The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) Signs MoU with Ant International to Expand Business in Saudi Arabia, Supporting Regional Digital Innovation

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.

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.