TEAM NAVER to establish a joint venture with the National Housing Company in Saudia Arabia ... building additional foundations for business along with its digital twin platform

TEAM NAVER to establish a joint venture with the National Housing Company in Saudia Arabia ... building additional foundations for business along with its digital twin platform

- NHC, named "the largest real estate developer in the Middle East" this year, accounts for 70% of real estate transactions in Saudi Arabia

- Leading digital transformation in the real estate sector, including smart cities, plans underway to develop a map-enabled super app for public administration with NAVER

November 18, 2024

TEAM NAVER is to establish a joint venture with Saudi Arabia's National Housing Company (NHC), a state-owned company under the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing. The JV will serve as NAVER's business unit for the Saudi Arabia region, along with NAVER Arabia (tentative name) which will oversee the company's business in the MENA region.

TEAM NAVER and NHC signed an MOU to establish a JV at Cityscape Global 2024, held from November 11 to 14 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The MOU signing ceremony was attended by key figures from both companies, including Chae Seon-ju, President of ESG and External Affairs at NAVER, Kim Yuwon, CEO of NAVER Cloud, Majed Al-Hogail, Saudi Arabian Minister of Municipalities and Housing, and Ryan Al-Aql, CSO of NHC.

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[Photo] A MOU signing ceremony for establishing a JV between TEAM NAVER and NHC was held in Cityscape Global 2024 on Nov. 11 (local time) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (From the left) Kim Yuwon, CEO of NAVER Cloud, Choi Byung-hyuk, South Korean Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chae Seon-ju, President of ESG and External Affairs at NAVER, Majed Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipalities and Housing in Saudi Arabia, Ihab Al Hashani, Deputy Minister of Municipalities and Housing in Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Albuty, CEO of NHC, and Rayan Al-Aql, CSO of NHC.

The JV will operate under NAVER Arabia (tentative name), with the operation and commercialization of the digital twin platform in Saudi Arabia as its core business along with NHC. The JV will also be TEAM NAVER's first business entity for its technology platform business in the Middle East.

NHC, a key partner of TEAM NAVER in Saudi Arabia, is a state-owned company under the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Municipalities and Housing that is responsible for 70% of real estate transactions in the country. As part of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" initiative, the company is currently focused on digital transformation such as digital innovation in the real estate sector and smart city development. Since its establishment in 2016, NHC has been in charge of over 380 projects for real estate development projects including public housing provision, and the value of its real estate portfolio is expected to exceed 60 billion USD (80 trillion KRW) as of the end of 2025. The company has also been selected as the largest real estate developer in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by the Construction Week Middle East in 2024.

TEAM NAVER and NHC will operate and commercialize the digital twin platform in Saudi Arabia through the JV, while also developing other businesses such as a public monitoring platform for urban areas and a map-enabled super app for public administration.

"TEAM NAVER's global competitiveness in technology and business has been recognized by various ministries and organizations in Saudi Arabia, and we are excited to further discover business opportunities with different partners in the region," said Chae Seon-ju, President of ESG and External Affairs at NAVER.

Meanwhile, from November 11 to 14 TEAM NAVER attended and exhibited its technologies in Cityscape Global 2024, a prime construction exhibition in Saudi Arabia, to further explore various business opportunities.

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea's largest Internet company. It operates No.1 search engine in Korea 'NAVER', along with the e-commerce platform and various global online services such as LINE mobile messenger, Webtoon and Webnovel publishing, SNOW video camera app and ZEPETO metaverse platform.

In addition to its own offerings, NAVER is building a strong global business portfolio through partnerships with industry-leading companies, including Softbank, Poshmark, and Wattpad. NAVER recorded sales of KRW 9.6 trillion (USD 6.9 billion) in 2023. The company invests approximately 25% of its annual sales in R&D projects, pursuing innovation through continuous research and development of future technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving technologies.

To learn more, visit www.navercorp.com/en