Mortimer Blum – The year 2023 in Saudi Arabia was dedicated to the promotion of Polish

For Mortimer Blum – The year 2023 in Saudi Arabia was dedicated to the promotion of Polish IT. Alongside with Saudi IT specialists, our team has been working on the concept since April. After numerous consultations with Robert Rostek, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Riyadh, and Saad Saleh Al Saleh – Ambassador of the Kingdom in Warsaw, as well as PAIH, we have developed several variants. It was crucial to find a partner in Saudi Arabia who guaranteed authority, relationships and organizational capabilities. In November, Mortimer Blum organized an event in Riyadh with the participation of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia, with the support of the Polish ambassador and MCIT management. A big challenge was the selection of companies and people from Poland – representing innovations and international experience in the IT industry. It took quite a few weeks. The image of the Saudi Arabian economy in Poland is currently still perceived stereotypically – few people have watched the Vision 2030 strategy on the Internet and few people follow economic news. The November event was organized by Mortimer Blum in Riyadh with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of Saudi Arabia – a wonderful, well-organized office with great (obviously) influence in the entire economy. Presentations of companies from Poland were interspersed with presentations of organizations, offices and Saudi companies.

Saudis are looking for experience and modern technologies, including internet technologies, so we have selected areas that are key to the further transformation of the Kingdom in accordance with Vision 2030. Starting from programming the functions and design of portals through modern RAN 5G telecommunications technologies, the use of AI in legal issues or optimizing the profitability of hotels, coordination of large-scale cash flows, cyber security using quantum technologies, several views on education, including: regarding training and improvement of IT skills among women.
The importance of the event was determined by the presence of Robert Rostek, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, and the management of MCIT – which confirmed the openness to continue cooperation.

Many representatives of Polish companies had the opportunity to confront stereotypes about Saudi Arabia and their own experiences for the first time. Most of them were enthusiastic about this change, resulting in almost immediate subsequent visits to Arabia. This previously unknown country turned out to be friendly, full of smiling people, bustling restaurants, busy streets, fascinating shops, as well as colorful lights and the characteristic aroma of Saudi oriental cosmetics.

Our strategies cover not only the IT sector. We intend to draw the attention of Polish technology companies, especially in the fields of energy and oil & gas. We plan to organize workshops/seminars in the Eastern Province, presenting Polish technologies and innovative products. This area, with the headquarters of, among others, ARAMCO and SABIC, is a key factor in the Kingdom’s economic power. The Tricity – Dammam, Dahran and AlKhobar – is a center for hundreds of industrial companies looking for partners and suppliers. At least two Polish companies are already actively operating there and have registered their competences and status. In Saudi Arabia they say: “If you have a contract with ARAMCO, you don’t have to do anything else for the rest of your life.”