2026 Saudi Arabia International Technology Exhibition Kicks Off Grandly

Riyadh, [Month X, Day X, 2026] – As a flagship sci-tech innovation event for Saudi Arabia to implement its Vision 2030 and drive economic diversification, the 2026 Saudi Arabia International Technology Exhibition (LEAP) grandly opened at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Convention Center. Under the theme of "Innovation Drives the Future, Technology Connects the World", the exhibition brought together over 1,800 enterprises, 1,500 emerging sci-tech start-ups and 500 world-leading industry speakers from more than 80 countries and regions worldwide, with over 210,000 professional visitors in attendance. It has become the largest and most cutting-edge technology event in the Middle East, building a profound cooperation bridge between global sci-tech innovation forces and Saudi Arabia’s industrial ecosystem.

Hosted by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the exhibition focused on core fields including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, advanced manufacturing, green energy, digital twins and intelligent robots, showcasing cutting-edge global technological achievements and solutions in a concentrated manner. In his opening speech, Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology, stated that the exhibition had attracted USD 11.9 billion in investment commitments from all over the world in Saudi Arabia’s communications and information technology sector, covering emerging technology R&D, cloud computing infrastructure construction, digital talent training and other dimensions. This will help Saudi Arabia accelerate the building of the largest digital economy in the region and advance the achievement of sci-tech industry development goals outlined in Vision 2030.

Green energy and hydrogen energy technology emerged as one of the core highlights of this exhibition. Saudi Arabia’s NEOM unveiled its flagship green hydrogen project in the Oxagon district to global acclaim. As a benchmark for Saudi Arabia’s clean energy transition, the project is set to achieve an annual green hydrogen production capacity of 1.2 million tons (approximately 650 tons per day) in 2026, generating over 4 gigawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. Once completed, it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 3 million tons annually. On the exhibition site, the NEOM Hydrogen Innovation and Development Center released a number of technological breakthroughs and showcased application solutions for green hydrogen in transportation, manufacturing, chemical engineering and other fields, driving the coordinated development of the global clean energy industry and positioning Saudi Arabia as a core hub for global green hydrogen production and export.

China-Saudi Arabia sci-tech innovation cooperation was a major highlight of the exhibition. Nearly 100 Chinese enterprises showcased their core technologies and solutions in digital communications, intelligent robots, cloud computing, high-end intelligent hardware and other fields, signing a number of cooperation agreements with Saudi and Middle Eastern enterprises to achieve dual breakthroughs in technology localization and industrial synergy. Huawei displayed core technologies such as digital twin cities, smart city systems and optical fiber networks in the main exhibition hall. Its smart city solutions enable visual and dynamic management of urban public facilities, transportation, security and other modules, accurately monitor environmental indicators, and greatly improve the efficiency of urban governance. Honor launched its new Magic6 Pro smartphone in the Middle East for the first time at the exhibition; with its core advantages in AI-driven functions and ultra-high-definition photography, it became the focus of the consumer electronics exhibition, and the brand’s Chief Marketing Officer was invited to deliver a keynote speech as the only representative of mobile phone manufacturers, demonstrating the international competitiveness of China’s high-end intelligent hardware.

In the advanced manufacturing and intelligent robot exhibition area, the Dongguan Songshan Lake International Robot Industry Base and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology brought innovative products from nearly 20 start-ups to the exhibition, including autonomous mining trucks, new energy water surface cleaning unmanned boats, intelligent construction robots and small bionic robot dogs. These products attracted the attention of buyers from many Middle Eastern countries, and a number of cooperation intentions were reached on site. Cooperation in the cloud computing field also yielded fruitful results: Tencent Cloud and Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest telecommunications service provider, jointly launched the "Go Saudi Arabia" initiative to help build a localized enterprise cloud service platform in Saudi Arabia; Alibaba Cloud signed an agreement with a China-Saudi joint venture cloud computing company to train more than 1,000 digital technology talents in Saudi Arabia, filling the local gap in sci-tech innovation talents; China Mobile International’s Saudi subsidiary signed memorandums of cooperation in the IoT and AI fields with multiple Middle Eastern enterprises to promote technology localization and scenario-based application.

Beyond China-Saudi cooperation, the exhibition gathered in-depth participation from top global sci-tech innovators, including technology giants and start-ups from Europe, America, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, conducting multi-dimensional exchanges in AI computing power, advanced manufacturing, logistics technology and other fields. NEOM announced its latest strategic layout at the exhibition: leveraging its geographical advantages along the Red Sea and seawater cooling technology, it will build a global hub for AI computing power, plan the construction of a large-scale data center cluster, and attract global technology giants and computing power enterprises to settle in, providing strong digital infrastructure support for artificial intelligence, big data analysis and other fields. Kuwaiti logistics technology enterprise Leha signed an on-site contract with a Shanghai-based Chinese robot enterprise to introduce Chinese-made unmanned warehouse robots, upgrading the intelligent level of the Middle East’s logistics industry. This cooperation has also received support from international capital, emerging as a typical case of global sci-tech resource integration.

More than 100 professional forums and technical seminars were held concurrently with the exhibition. 500 international speakers conducted in-depth discussions on topics such as "AI Computing Power Development", "Green Energy Transition", "Smart City Construction" and "Digital Economy and Industrial Integration", providing new ideas for the development of the sci-tech industry in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East. Abdul Aziz Al-Shabani, a researcher at the Riyadh Center for Political and Strategic Studies, noted that the in-depth alignment of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the Belt and Road Initiative has built a high-quality platform for China-Saudi and global-Middle East sci-tech cooperation. China’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, digital technology and industrial chain integration complement Saudi Arabia’s advantages in industrial capital, market demand and strategic layout. The two sides boast broad cooperation prospects in the digital economy, green energy, intelligent equipment and other fields in the future.

The 2026 Saudi Arabia International Technology Exhibition will run until [Month X, Day X]. A series of events including technology matching sessions, start-up roadshows and investment fairs will be held during the exhibition to promote the precise matching of global sci-tech achievements with Saudi industrial demand, and accelerate technology transformation and project localization. As a barometer for the development of Saudi Arabia’s sci-tech industry, this exhibition not only demonstrates the development potential of the digital economy and green technology in the Middle East, but also serves as an important platform for global sci-tech forces to innovate collaboratively and co-build the future. It injects strong impetus into Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification and opens up new cooperation space for the development of the global technology industry.

It is learned that the Saudi authorities have announced that LEAP will be held as an annual grand event, which will further focus on core fields such as AI, green energy and advanced manufacturing in the future, building a world-class sci-tech exchange and cooperation platform and driving Saudi Arabia to become an important growth pole of the global sci-tech industry.