Kakao, Saudi Arabia agree to expand partnership

South Korean internet giant Kakao Corp. announced Tuesday that it held talks with officials from the Saudi Tourism Authority on building mobile infrastructure to revitalize tourism in Saudi Arabia at the Kakao headquarters in Pangyo.

Top executives from both sides, including STA’s President of APAC Markets Alhasan Aldabbagh, and STA’s Chief Technology Officer Choon Quek attended the meeting.

Saudi Arabia has selected Korea as one of its strategic partners by presenting the "Saudi Vision 2030," which aims to foster high-value industries such as culture and tourism. As Saudi Arabia has been working to improve the convenience of tourists under the "Seamless Travel" slogan, cooperation with Kakao was promoted for the establishment of IT infrastructure and cultural exchanges using South Korean content.

Kakao discussed the partnership by introducing the global entry of Korean content mainly led by Kakao and its subsidiaries with its webtoon, music, fintech, mobility and communication platforms.

The two sought synergy by establishing a payment system for Saudi tourists through Kakao Pay, Kakao’s online payment unit which is currently expanding its overseas market in Japan, Singapore and China. The two agreed to upgrade the infrastructure of car-hailing and vehicle control systems in Saudi Arabia while seeking plans to develop customized information-sharing platforms.

As the enthusiasm for K-pop and other Korean content is also high among young people in Saudi Arabia, in-depth discussions were held to expand cultural tourism in connection with Kakao Entertainment's various intellectual property projects.

Starting with the partnership, Kakao plans to boost the overall IT infrastructure of Saudi Arabia to improve the convenience of Saudi citizens and tourists, revitalize the local tourism business and strengthen cultural competitiveness.

"As revitalizing the tourism industry is a major task of the Saudi government, we will actively cooperate to advance the tourism infrastructure environment and continue cultural-technology exchanges based on Kakao's various technical capabilities,” Kakao’s Head of Corporate Innovation Center Shin Min-kyun said.