Cooperation with China will be crucial as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates step up their attempts to diversify their economies and increase the role of the R&D and innovation sectors, according to analysts.
They said that because of China's dedication to "win-win collaboration" and the extensive involvement of its massive Belt and Road global infrastructure projects, the Asian superpower can assist in hastening the adoption of cutting-edge technologies in the Middle East.
According to Deniz Istikbal, an economist at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a policy think tank with offices in Ankara, Turkey, "China is crucial for Western Asian countries" as one of the top global spenders on research and development.
"Saudi Arabia and the UAE should strengthen their collaboration with China in the field of technology and encourage the investments of Chinese firms," said Istikbal. "China's technical infrastructure, manufacturing industry, and production capacity."
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan stated that his country is "always seeking for what is best for us" and what meets Saudi technological requirements in a recent interview with CNN. He emphasised the significance of China as the second-largest economy in the world and stressed the necessity for cooperation rather than hostility for the region to have a path to lasting prosperity.
The Saudis won't limit themselves to a single supplier, the minister added, since "it just does not make business sense."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who serves as the head of the country's Supreme Committee for Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI), declared on June 30 that his country's goal is to overtake the rest of the world as a leader in RDI within the next 20 years, with an annual investment of 2.5% of GDP.
According to him, this will diversify the economy, bring in $16 billion, and generate high-value jobs in research and technology, according to the Saudi Press Agency. Priorities include energy and industrial leadership of the future, sustainable environment and provision of basic requirements, and health and wellness.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, similarly outlined his country's vision on July 13; in it, he stressed the importance of human capital as well as the development of science and technology.
Saudi Telecom Company and Alibaba Group formed a joint venture in May of this year with a $238 million initial investment to build a cloud services company in Riyadh.
The Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence, the Saudi Information Technology Company, and eWTP Arabia Technology Innovation are also partners in the new Alibaba Cloud endeavour, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
According to Anis Khayati, an economics professor at the University of Bahrain, the UAE is considering playing a significant part in the BRI and wants to create a network of trade and infrastructure that connects Asia with the continents of Europe and Africa.
He claimed that in order to improve its growth prospects and encourage international investment, the UAE has to identify economic alternatives and answers.
The UAE was the first nation to allow the emergency use of anti-coronavirus shots produced by Sinopharm, and it later took steps to manufacture the vaccines on its own soil. This shows how deeply China and the UAE have cooperated in research, development, and innovation.
According to Khayati, the UAE has extended an invitation to the Chinese to establish projects in the Arab country. "Emiri officials have brought to the attention of their Chinese counterparts that the UAE has national industries that they want to export, such as aluminium and chemical fertilisers, and they have expressed their hope that these industries will find markets in China," she added.
The UAE has been doing reasonably well in terms of diversifying its economy, but Khayati said it still needs to advance to more complicated products and industries.
According to Mohammad Salami, an associate researcher at the International Institute for Global Strategic Analysis in Pakistan, China "is the best option" to support the development of the R&D sectors in the Gulf nations because, in contrast to Western powers, China more readily makes available cutting-edge technologies.
Salami pointed out that Beijing does not take into account conditions like the required implementation of liberalism or human rights that Western nations impose on its technologies.
Furthermore, he added, there is a noticeable contrast between the assistance provided to the Gulf nations by China and Western nations.
According to Salami, cooperation with China yields "win-win" outcomes since "Westerners are in business with these countries just for the purpose of trade, while China is interested in strengthening the infrastructure of these countries in order to construct the Belt and Road Initiative.
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