KUALA LUMPUR: Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) and Ajlan & Bros Holding Group have teamed up to "revolutionise" smart cities integration and large IT projects in Saudi Arabia as well as other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Both companies signed an agreement to establish a joint-venture company for the purpose on Thursday during Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's three-day official visit to the kingdom.
The JV was poised to undertake the business of systems integration in smart cities and large enterprise projects in MENA as well as projects within Ajlan and its subsidiaries, DNeX said today.
Ajlan will be responsible for jointly bidding on Saudi Arabia smart city projects with DNeX, as well as its existing large enterprise projects.
DNeX will be responsible for the design, supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure and applications.
DNeX will also provide subsequent maintenance of the ICT infrastructure and applications while providing service delivery management to oversee its project deliverables.
Executive chairman Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the JV would further cement DNeX's global presence, leveraging Ajlan's strong network of influence to undertake various mega infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia and MENA markets.
"We will utilise our in-house digital capabilities to drive Saudi Arabia's smart cities projects, riding on our reinforced partnership with Ajlan & Bros Holding.
"This will also enable DNeX to deploy home-grown technologies and facilitate the kingdom's urban transformation projects, catering to the overarching objectives of Saudi Vision 2030," he added.
Through Ajlan, DNeX has been registered as one of the vendors participating in the NEOM project, a planned smart city in Tabuk Province in north-western Saudi Arabia.
"We expect to work closely in growing the capability of the JV with the full support from both DNeX and Ajlan & Bros Holding," Syed Zainal added.
Ajlan, headquartered in Riyadh, is one of the largest private sector conglomerates in the Middle East.
It has businesses and coverage in more than 20 sectors including water, power and healthcare, and employs over 15,000 people in more than 25 countries and across 75 companies.