LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s drive to attract foreign investment racked up another success on Wednesday when Japanese multinational Canon revealed plans to set up operations in Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar, employing 300 by 2020.
The cameras, photocopiers and medical imaging giant has been operating in the UAE where it employs 260, but is now targeting KSA as it expands in the Middle East and North Africa.
Anurag Agrawal, managing director, Canon Middle East, said, “Saudi Arabia is witnessing a transformation into a more diversified economy with several industries developing and establishing a presence in the region’s largest market.”
The Japanese hope that demand for Canon products will come from small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which make up 90 percent of all enterprises in Saudi Arabia, and which require efficient digital systems to prosper.
Saudi Arabian wants to lift the GDP contribution of SMEs to 35 percent by 2030.
Canon will back the country’s Saudization program by employing Saudi nationals, including women, as modernization takes hold.
