Hewlett Packard Enterprise signs MOU with Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority

PALO ALTO, Calif. – April 9, 2018 – Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) met with key decision makers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the companys headquarters in Palo Alto to discuss the nations Vision 2030 agenda and to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA).

The memorandum of understanding – signed during HRH Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud's tour of the United States – will see Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) collaborate with SAGIA to develop a program that helps to realize the Vision 2030 strategic objectives.

The program will focus on optimizing the Saudi IT ecosystem, nurturing and leveraging the latest technology innovations, and investing in national transformation – providing citizens with the knowledge and skills to meet the future needs of the labor market.

HPE has been a leading technology player in Saudi Arabia for more than 30 years, partnering with key organizations in the public and private sectors, and is strongly positioned to support the nation to help achieve its growth goals through business diversification.

SAGIA firmly believes that leveraging the IT sector will be essential to the success of Vision 2030, by driving the efficiencies required to meet targets, and by opening up the sector to skilled Saudi Arabian nationals, providing fulfilling and rewarding jobs for the future.

“Today’s signing of the memorandum of understanding with SAGIA signals our joint ambition and intent to accelerate the digital transformation of Saudi Arabia and achieve the goals set out in Vision 2030,” said Antonio Neri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “HPE brings a wealth of experience and state-of-the-art technology to the Saudi market and through this program will work with key stakeholders in the Kingdom to further develop the IT ecosystem, foster and scale innovation, and provide the knowledge and skills required for the future.”

“With this Special Support Agreement, we look forward to continuing our long term partnership with HPE to support the Saudi Vision 2030 and digital transformation to become the regional ICT hub. Saudi Arabia is going through tremendous social and economic change and at the heart of that change is a desire to be at the forefront of technology,” said His Excellency Eng. Ibrahim Alomar Governor of SAGIA. “One of SAGIA’s strategic goals is to attract high value companies that contribute to building a sustainable digital economy. HPE will continue to enrich the Saudi economy and to bring jobs to our Saudi local talents and help us achieve our 2030 vision.”

“We have a deep understanding of Vision 2030 and the wider Saudi market, based on projects we have successfully delivered over the past three decades. We look forward to greater cooperation over the coming years to drive digital transformation across the various sectors of the Saudi Arabian economy as the Kingdom diversifies its sources of income,” said Mohammed AlJasser, Managing Director, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, KSA.

Key Aims of the Program

HPE and SAGIA's collaboration towards further achieving the overall digitization of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will focus on three core tracks:

• Optimize the Saudi IT ecosystem – HPE will orchestrate a unique, localized cloud ecosystem for Saudi Arabia based on the world's largest cloud community, Cloud28+, an open community and business platform powered by HPE infrastructure and dedicated to accelerating enterprise cloud adoption. HPE will also leverage its relationships with a wide network of partners and its global customer base to benefit of Saudi Arabian stakeholders.
• Nurture and leverage the latest innovation – HPE will bring its global innovation and investment program Pathfinder to KSA to enhance the innovation culture that already exists within the Kingdom. Pathfinder nurtures startup innovators through the critical stages of attracting venture capital investment, commercialising their idea and rapidly taking it to market by integrating the technology into HPE-developed solutions.
• Invest in national transformation – HPE will work with the relevant ministries/entities responsible for human capital development programs in Saudi Arabia to provide Saudi Arabian citizens, in Saudi and around the world, with the IT knowledge and skills required to meet the future needs of the labor market.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industry's most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.