In brief: Reports indicate Foxconn is planning to build a new $9 billion factory to manufacture various electronics in the Middle East. Most odd is that one of the locations in consideration is a Saudi Arabian city that doesn’t exist yet.
Sources recently told the Wall Street Journal that the Saudi government is negotiating with electronics supplier Foxconn for a new $9 billion factory in its planned future city of Neom. The factory would be for semiconductors, displays, EV components, and surface-mount technology.
Neom is a city-state Saudi Arabia plans to build on the coast of the Red Sea near Jordan and Egypt. The Saudi government announced its plans for Neom in 2017 as part of its “Vision 2030.” Spanning 10,000 square miles and costing $500 billion, Neom is supposed to be powered by AI, renewable energy, and high-speed wireless.
However, the insiders say Foxconn is also in talks with the United Arab Emirates to locate the plant within its borders, about 2,300 km southeast of Neom.
If confirmed, the facility could be part of Foxconn’s recently-announced plans to establish itself in the EV market by 2025. Earlier this month, Foxconn revealed it wants to build EV factories in Taiwan, Europe, India, Mexico, and South America over several years, though it didn’t mention the Middle East.