S. Korea Builds a Smart Farm Complex in Saudi Arabia to Increase Exports of Smart Farms to the Middle East

Sejong, 23 April 2025 — On 21 April in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) held a ceremony for commencement of construction of the Demo Smart Farm, which will serve as a foothold for Korean smart farms to enter the Middle Eastern market. The ceremony was attended by H.E. Park Beomsu, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Republic of Korea and H.E. Eng. Mansour Hilal Al Mushaiti, Vice Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Both sides shared a goal of expansion of smart farming for enhancement of food security and agreed to continue reciprocal cooperation in the field of smart farming. 

The MAFRA and the Korea Agriculture Technology Promotion Agency have been carrying out the project of building a Demo Smart Farm in overseas export markets to showcase Korea’s smart-farming technologies. Construction of a Demo Smart Farm in Riyadh is the fourth project targeted at the Middle East. A Demo Smart Farm of the first project was built in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). A Demo Smart Farm of the second project was built in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Southeast Asia. A Demo Smart Farm of the third project was built in Australia in Oceania. 

The smart farm in Riyadh will be built into the form of a multiple complex, measuring approximately 2,000 square meters, composed of vertical farms and glass greenhouses. Diverse smart-farming technologies such as cutting-edge agricultural robots, environment-controlling solutions, etc. will also be applied to the smart farm complex. 

The construction of the Demo Smart Farm, scheduled to be completed in December 2025, will be located in the National Agricultural and Animal Resources Research Centre, which is expected to play a role as a hub of smart farming for Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, the smart farm complex will serve as a catalyst for a wider introduction of smart farming to enhance food security of Saudi Arabia, and act as a foothold for exporting Korean smart farms to the Middle East.

Vice Minister Park Beomsu of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Republic of Korea said: “The Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, is an important market for South Korea as the region has accounted for approximately 60% of the exports and construction orders of Korean smart farms over the past two years. With the commencement of the smart farm construction, the ministry will strengthen cooperation further with the government of Saudi Arabia to ensure that export of Korean smart farms to the Middle East can be accelerated.”