3D Factory, a South Korean global platform dedicated to the development of the metaverse, announced on Jan. 22 that it has been selected as the advertising planner and executor for the entire Taif region of Saudi Arabia. This public project was commissioned by the Ministry of Municipal and Affairs and Housing (MOMRAH) under the Saudi Central Government and the Administrative Department of the Taif Region.
This project represents an initial phase of the agreement between 3D Factory and the municipal government of Taif City, which was signed in July of last year. The agreement, valued at 700 billion won over ten years, is now being implemented with an initial phase budget of 250 billion won (US$187 million).
CEO Oh Byung-ki explained, “In July of last year we entered into a private contract worth 700 billion won with the municipal government. However, according to the guidelines of MOMRAH in Saudi Arabia, open public procurement is conducted under the direction of the central government minister for projects exceeding 1 billion riyals for the 5 special cities and 75 million riyals for the 12 metropolitan cities.”
He continued, “Over the past 7 months we have diligently prepared extensive Arabic proposals tailored to the rigorous public procurement standards of the Saudi central government. Our proposals encompass advanced technologies such as space-optimized immersive media facades utilizing solar energy and secondary batteries, which 3D Factory uniquely possesses, situated in mountainous terrain at an altitude of 2,100 meters.”
After being selected as the preferred bidder last year, 3D Factory successfully passed the evaluations of the Technical Review Committee and the Financial Review Committee on Jan. 18. Following the completion of price negotiations, the company was ultimately chosen as the contracting party. During this process, the company entered into a hardware supply agreement with LG Electronics, and for advertising sales, the company signed a partnership with the Times Group in India, which has achieved a revenue of 2 trillion won solely through outdoor advertising.
CEO Oh commented, “For the past 25 years, I have participated in numerous public procurement projects, but this has been the first experience of such difficulty. In the future, we plan to participate in various autonomous government projects in Saudi Arabia, including Mecca, Riyadh, and Jeddah.”
He added, “Through the contracts with the Saudi central government and municipal government this time, I want to share the experience gained with companies that aim to win local government projects, including the Neom City project.”