Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has granted an industrial license to Ceer, the first local electric vehicle (EV) brand.

The EV manufacturing facility will cover an area of one million square metres in King Abdullah Economic City’s Industrial Valley, the ministry said in a tweet.

Ceer will attract over $562 million of foreign direct investment, create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and directly contribute $30 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2034, the ministry said.

In November 2022, Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammad bin Salman and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced the launch of Ceer.

The company, a joint venture between PIF and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn), will license component technology from BMW for use in the vehicle development process.