| | NOVEMBER 20238IN FOCUSKSA AND OMAN TO INCREASE TRADE TIESAGILITY INKS HEALTHCARE MOU WITH SAUDI MINISTRY OF INVESTMENTSaudi Arabia and Oman are discussing enhancing cooperation in free zones and economic cities to further boost trade. Saudi Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority Secretary-General Nabil Khoja met his Omani counterpart Ali Al-Sunaidy, the chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, to jointly explore the consolidation of the economic zones. During the meeting in the Saudi capital, the two officials reviewed significant investment opportunities for the targeted sectors, incentives and facilities proposed for the integrated economic zone project in Dhahirah and its role in increasing the trade volume between the two countries. It is noteworthy that the two countries have established a committee dedicated to overseeing the development of the integrated economic zone in Dhahirah. The committee is responsible for crafting a comprehensive plan for the zone's development, execution and management in Oman, besides monitoring the implementation of all related programs and initiatives. The officials also reviewed the complementarities between the economic zones in the Oman, their Saudi counterparts and the importance of framing the relationship between Omani and Saudi companies through an electronic platform that links these firms to benefit from the sector's added value, including available raw materials and production inputs. Furthermore, the two sides highlighted investment opportunities in renewable energy, petrochemicals, fisheries, medicines, medical supplies and services for oil and gas spare parts. They also discussed the importance of attracting investors from both regions to the integrated economic zone in the Dhahirah governorate. The meeting was attended by Omani Ambassador Sayyid Faisal bin Turki Al-Said along with several senior officials.Agility, a supply chain services, infrastructure, and innovation firm, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to investigate ways to strengthen the Saudi healthcare sector by bringing cutting-edge health technology and services to the Kingdom, while also supporting new job creation and knowledge transfer.Under the agreement, Agility and MISA will explore four areas of collaboration in the healthcare sector. This includes the potential for expanding digital health services and localizing the supply chain for innovative new medical technologies, as well as supporting Agility's technology ventures partners in establishing regional offices in the Kingdom to attract Saudi talent and promote transfer of critical supply chain and healthcare knowledge, as per zawya.As part of its Vision 2030 national strategy plan, Saudi Arabia is overhauling its healthcare system. The Healthcare Sector Transformation Program's aims include improving access to care, modernizing facilities, and expanding the role of private-sector investment.The MOU intends to increase Saudis' access to preventative health services and technologies for fighting chronic illnesses like as cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. MISA and Agility are investigating how to expand e-health services in the Kingdom by bringing in companies that, for example, enable early detection of heart problems and monitoring of heart health indicators and other bio signals via simple mobile phone selfie images, and that make breast cancer screenings more widely and easily accessible via high-resolution imagery technology that is highly efficient and low-cost.
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