RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s food product industry is set to experience substantial growth, thanks to a slew of agreements with South Korean businesses totaling $50 million. In a strategic move, firms from the East Asian nation have executed eight memoranda of understanding within Saudi Arabia, directing their investments toward smart farms and food products, according to a statement from the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The signing of these MoUs occurred during the Korea-Saudi business conference, organized by the Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency on Monday in Riyadh. In March, at the Biban 23 conference, one of the largest events in the region dedicated to startups, SMEs, and entrepreneurship, held in the Saudi capital, a top official revealed South Korea’s keen interest in exploring the opportunities within the Kingdom’s startup ecosystem. At the time, South Korea’s Minister of SMEs and Startups Young Lee stated: “I hope that Biban 2023 could become our launchpad where innovative Korean startups could make their way into the Saudi market, and startups of both countries could flourish together.” Lee provided the conference attendees with insights into the dynamic and innovative Korean startup ecosystem, which secured a notable 10th position globally in 2022. She also delved into the country’s progressive startup policies. During her speech, Lee highlighted how startups such as NAVER, Kakao, Coupang, Nexon, and NCSOFT had evolved into unicorns, and are currently playing pivotal roles in driving the Korean economy. “In CES 2023, we witnessed the biggest number of Korean startups being awarded,” the minister added at the time. “Only seven startups were selected in 2019, while in 2023, 111 Korean companies have been chosen. It means that 1 in 4 awarded companies at CES 2023 were Korean startups, and more than 80 percent of the awarded Korean companies were startups,” she added at the time. During her speech, the minister highlighted that Korea stood among the top 10 countries globally in terms of the number of unicorn companies. Additionally, she pointed out that “the size of venture domestic investment in Korea reached $13.7 billion as of 2021 from $4.8 billion in 2018.” The East Asian country currently has 10,000 startup and venture investment centers for incubating Korean startups internationally, and it plans to raise that number.