Uber is starting the week right and is headstrong. The world’s largest app for ridesharing has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel. The goal: to revolutionize urban mobility in the country. Photos of the historic moment are available online, with Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi captured signing the contract. Ridesharing Forum has more.
Onwards to Saudi Vision 2030
This recent deal signed by Uber Technologies and Abdul Latif Jameel is more than just a deal within those two companies, but is part of reaching the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. It is a comprehensive plan for change in the Middle Eastern country, aiming to reduce its dependence on oil revenue – which is, interestingly, one of the biggest sources of income here – and diversify its economy to benefit its citizens, improving the quality of their life.
“Our collaboration with Uber reflects a shared vision for a… more accessible and autonomous mobility future. We are proud to be working with such a renowned technology leader, as we support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and position the Kingdom as a role model for the future of mobility,” stated the deputy chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel, Hassan Jameel. “Equally important is how this agreement will help empower Saudi youth through the creation of job opportunities, while contributing to the Kingdom’s long-term prosperity.”
To those of you who do not know, Abdul Latif Jameel sounds like a name, and it really is, but it is actually a family-owned and diversified business founded in the Middle Eastern nation in the 1940s, at the peak of the Second World War, by the late Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel, from where the company got its name. The firm operates across seven core business sectors and has presence in over 30 countries worldwide.
New mutual agreement
What the two companies have signed is a Memorandum of Understanding or MoU, exploring opportunities to build a scalable, next-generation fleet operations platform. MoU generally works similar to a Memorandum of Agreement, or MoA, except that the former is more subtle.
The collaboration seeks to boost socioeconomic growth in the Arabian kingdom, creating more earning opportunities for Saudi nationals as well. The agreement will also help accelerate the transformation of urban mobility in the country, including the deployment of the popular autonomous or self-driving vehicles.
Here’s the official statement from the CEO of Uber: “Saudi Arabia is a hugely important market to Uber. We’re thrilled to collaborate with Abdul Latif Jameel to advance and accelerate a future of mobility that is electric, shared, and autonomous in the country, while advancing earning opportunities for Saudi nationals. Our goal is to make Uber the best platform for AV technology and continue to introduce both autonomous and human-driven mobility solutions to help people get where they need to go, effortlessly.’’
Uber is the top choice for ridesharing, especially in the United States. Believe it or not, it currently operates in over 900 cities across the globe! That said, autonomous vehicles are crucial to the future of transportation, not just within Uber.
It has been Uber’s mission to build a shared, electric, and autonomous future, and the company is seeing Saudi Arabia as a top destination for urban transformation, integrating AVs in the ecosystem. The Arabian firm, in partnership with Uber, will surely play a pivotal role in accelerating the deployment of these types of cars, supporting local fleet operations.
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