[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] Team Naver is pushing forward with the establishment of a joint venture with the National Housing Company (NHC), a state-run enterprise under the Ministry of Autonomy and Housing of Saudi Arabia. A business unit JV in the Saudi Arabia region will be established together with Naver Arabia (tentative name), which will oversee the Middle East business.

Team Naver and NHC signed an MOU to establish a joint venture at Cityscape 2024 (Cityscape Global) held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from the 11th to the 14th. The MOU was attended by officials from both companies, including Naver External and ESG Policy Director Chae Seon-ju, Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won, Saudi Arabian Minister of Self-Government, Government and Housing Majed Alhogail, and NHC CSO Ryan Al-Aql.

The new joint venture will operate and commercialize a digital twin platform in Saudi Arabia together with NHC under Naver Arabia (tentative name). The JV will be Team Naver’s first business entity to carry out its technology platform business in the Middle East.

NHC, Team Naver's key partner in Saudi Arabia, is a state-owned enterprise under the Saudi Ministry of Autonomy, Government and Housing, and 70% of real estate transactions in the country are conducted through NHC. Currently, as part of the achievement of 'Vision 2030', it is focusing on DX transformation such as digital innovation in the real estate sector and construction of smart cities.

Since its establishment in 2016, more than 380 real estate development projects, including public housing, have been completed or are in progress, and the value of NHC’s real estate portfolio is expected to exceed USD 60 billion (KRW 80 trillion) by the end of 2025. In 2024, it was selected as the largest real estate developer in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) by Construction Week Middle East.

Through this JV, Team Naver and NHC plan to operate and commercialize the Saudi Arabian digital twin platform, as well as promote an urban public monitoring platform and a map-based super app for public administration purposes.

Chae Seon-ju, head of Naver’s external and ESG policy, said, “As various ministries and organizations in Saudi Arabia are positively evaluating Team Naver’s global technology and business competitiveness, we will continue to expand business opportunities locally with various partners.”

Meanwhile, Team Naver attended Cityscape 2024, a representative construction exhibition in Saudi Arabia, from the 11th to the 14th, and explored various business opportunities through booth exhibition.