KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) has entered into an agreement with Saudi-based Ajlan & Bros Holding Group to establish a joint-venture company (JVCo) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In a statement on Friday (March 24), DNeX said the JVCo is poised to undertake the business of system integration in smart cities and large enterprise projects in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as projects of Ajlan and its subsidiaries.

Under the agreement, Ajlan will be responsible for jointly bidding for Saudi smart city projects with DNeX, as well as existing large enterprise projects.

Meanwhile, DNeX will be responsible for the design, supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and applications. 

The information technology and e-service provider will also provide subsequent maintenance of ICT infrastructure and applications, while providing service delivery management to oversee its project deliverables.

DNeX executive chairman Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the JVCo will further cement the company’s global presence, leveraging the strong network of influence of Ajlan to undertake various mega infrastructure projects in Saudi, Middle Eastern and North African markets.

“We will utilise our in-house digital capabilities to drive Saudi Arabia’s smart city projects, riding on our reinforced partnership with Ajlan. 

“This will also enable DNeX and its group of companies to deploy home-grown technologies and facilitate Saudi Arabia’s urban transformation projects, catering to the overarching objectives of Saudi Vision 2030,” he said.

Syed Zainal noted that DNeX had already registered as one of the vendors participating in Saudi Arabia’s megaproject of Neom, and thus the company expects to work closely in growing the capability of the JVCo.

The agreement is a follow-through from the collaborative framework agreement between DNeX and Ajlan, which was signed in August 2022 to form a JVCo in Saudi Arabia.

At the noon break on Friday, shares in DNeX were five sen or 8.93% higher at 61 sen, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM1.91 billion.