A general view of Riyadh business district. File

Gulf Today Report

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and a group of Middle Eastern countries have launched a new organisation to accelerate the growth of the digital economy, a statement from the Saudi communications ministry said on Thursday.

The group, to be known as the Digital Cooperation Organization, also includes Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, the statement said.

The group aims to stabilize their economy, job market and boost close cooperation other areas of mutual interests.

Senior government officials from several nations patronised the launch of the Digital Cooperation Organization on Thursday – a global organization aimed at strengthening cooperation across all innovation driven areas and accelerating growth of the digital economy.

A bird’s eye view of Riyadh city.

The event was attended by Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary General and Borge Brende, President, World Economic Forum.

Founded by Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the DCO is driven by a vision to realize a digital future for all by empowering women, youth and entrepreneurs, growing the digital economy, and leapfrogging with innovation.

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“We are joining hands together towards a commitment to drive consensus on digital cooperation to make sure that we seize an opportunity for our youth, our women and our entrepreneurs with the ambition to grow our combined digital economy to one trillion dollars in the next 3-5 years,” said Abdullah Amer Al-Swaha,

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology. “Our future prosperity will depend on the digital economy. But it can only reach its full potential if we are able to make governments work together collectively with businesses, and entrepreneurs so they can survive and thrive, expand their depth into current markets and open doors for everyone into new ones.”

The launch of the DCO follows the conclusion of Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency to maintain the Kingdom's momentum on accelerating the growth of the digital economy across the region and the globe, as nations everywhere increase their adoption of remote learning, telemedicine and contact-less economic systems to survive and thrive beyond the social and economic impact of COVID-19.