Abdul Latif Jameel’s corporate office in Japan, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 'The Garage', a start-up district of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Saudi Arabia. The partnership is aimed at promoting large scale business and commercial development in the Kingdom.

 

Through this MoU agreement, Abdul Latif Jameel Japan and The Garage will collaborate to support and engage promising innovative Japanese start-ups, enabling them to conduct competitive product development, pilot studies, full-scale commercialization, and fundraising activity across the fields of life sciences, metaverse, and Industry 4.0.

 

The agreement will also include a range of promotional activities to increase the number of Japanese applicants for The Garage’s incubation program in line with Abdul Latif Jameel Japan’s aim to support cross-market business alliances.

 

The MoU was signed in Tokyo by the President and CEO of Abdul Latif Jameel Japan, Shigeki Enami and CEO of The Garage, Omar Al Shabaan. The President of KACST, Dr  Mounir bin Mahmoud El Desouky, also attended the signing ceremony.

 

The Garage has been designed to be a hybrid model that combines business incubators and startup accelerators within an open workspace. It supports business development by providing a wide range of matching events, acceleration support, and a corporate license in Saudi Arabia.

 

Enami said: “The Garage project is a perfect bridge to connect innovative technology start-ups with both expertise and ultimately, potential investors, to help realize their ideas commercially.”

 

“With over three quarters of a century of commercial success and a long history of supporting entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia and beyond, Abdul Latif Jameel Japan is proud to support Vision 2030’s focus on innovation in this way whilst helping promising Japanese start-ups to gain access to the support and services that they need to thrive,” he continued.

 

Al Shabaan said: “The Garage was inspired by the origin stories of some of the world’s most successful tech companies like Apple, Google and Amazon, which famously launched their businesses from the inside of a garage.  Our aim is to create an environment that pays homage to this inspirational culture, which is synonymous with innovation. Through our partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel Japan, we hope to provide the perfect place for promising Japanese entrepreneurs and start-ups to turn their dreams into realities, and their ideas into innovations that can make untold contributions to Saudi Arabia and the realization of its ambitious plans for the future.”-TradeArabia News Service