Romania’s participation in the Riyadh Fair was organized as an economic mission under the coordination of ATIC and ARICE.
The delegation was made up of 10 companies with an IT profile that left with the desire to promote their activity in Saudi Arabia and to identify possible partners for future collaboration. The LEAP experience was unique for everyone and for each individual company, both through the scope, size, complexity and level of the technologies presented, as well as through the innovative solutions presented by the largest HiTech companies at the exhibition. The exhibition was a true demonstration of strength, political and technological involvement, a lesson in country vision and an example of organization. The event was organized by the Ministry of Communications and Technology, the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security, Programming and Drones and Tahaluf, a company that organizes fairs and exhibitions.
During the four days of the exhibition, 170,000+ visitors, 1800+ exhibitors, over 1000 speakers and 680+ start-ups were registered. 17 conference spaces were organized and topics of interest were presented for the areas addressed. Country stands and thematic stands of the biggest technological brands worldwide were organized at a very high level. Stands of all ministries and Government Agencies from Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also organized.
The Romanian delegation managed to be visible both through invited meetings and by attracting representatives of partner countries and associations who were contacted before the conference. Representatives of some companies that studied in Romania and showed interest in establishing partnerships were also interested in Romania’s stand.
Most of the contracts and collaborations that were announced were large-scale, worth millions, billions of dollars, generated by the ambitious plans of Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030 and the organization of the 2034 World Football Championship. The tendency was to engage large contracts for mature, last-generation technologies with the largest and most prestigious technology companies worldwide. Saudi Arabia only signs contracts with companies that have a local presence and provide all services through local partners.
Collaboration intentions were registered, potential niche topics were established and our companies understood the level of technology development in their fields of interest. The support of the ARICE representative and the Romanian Ambassador, who spent a lot of time at our stand and advised the participants on how to proceed in order to succeed in establishing a business in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, contributed to this fact. Collaboration opportunities were also identified between the companies in our delegation.
Romania’s stand, even if it was organized in a short period of time, enjoyed the interest of many visitors.