RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s international technology conference LEAP is set to witness $11.9 billion of investment deals over its three-day duration— eclipsing last year’s figure of $9 billion, according to a senior minister.
During the opening remarks at the annual event, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdulla Al-Swaha highlighted that investments in generative artificial intelligence acceleration and cloud infrastructure sectors are set to be key benefactors from the funding blitz.
The minister told those at the Riyadh-based gathering, which runs from March 4 to 7 and is the third edition of the event, that the Kingdom’s digital economy is “the most bold and audacious success story of the 21st century.”
He added: “When it comes to resilience, while the whole world was facing headwinds when it comes to VC (venture capital) funding with negative 30 to 40 percent, the Kingdom, under His Royal Highness leadership, we adjusted the sail and changed the headwinds into tailwinds and we grew by 33 percent.”
