Alibaba-backed fund to build HQ in Saudi ‘media city'

Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with a fund linked to China’s Alibaba to build a new headquarters in a “media city” in the kingdom’s capital.  The minister, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan signed the agreement with Jerry Li, founding partner of eWTP Capital, which is backed by Jack Ma, head of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.
With the agreement, the country aims to attract innovators from all over the world in an effort to diversify its oil-reliant economy.
The new headquarters is to accommodate the Saudi-controlled media group MBC, as well as a new hub for MBC-owned sister news channels Al Arabiya and Al Hadath. The media city will be in the embassies district of Riyadh. It will be in competition with Dubai Media City in the United Arab Emirates, the region’s leading media hub, where MBC Group is currently headquartered.