Neom invests in Danish robotics company

Alamy via Reuters

• Saudi Arabia Investment
• Concrete-reinforcing systems
• Produced in Neom-based factories

Neom Investment Fund (NIF) has invested in a Danish robotics company that specialises in automation technology for the construction industry.

NIF, the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion futuristic giga-project Neom, will put funding into GMT Robotics, which builds robotic systems for the rebar concrete-reinforcing sector.

The value of the investment was not revealed. 

The Copenhagen-based company’s robotic rebar cage assembly and handling systems reduce onsite workforce requirements by an average of 90 percent through offsite prefabrication, NIF said. 

“By localising this advanced technology, we are laying the groundwork for sustainable development, high-skilled jobs and the growth of commercially viable sectors,” said Majid Mufti, CEO of NIF.

• Neom raises $24 billion from the private sector
• Neom ‘uses one fifth of world’s steel’
• Neom offers financial guarantees to lure private investors

Rebar, or reinforcing bar, is a steel rod or mesh that is used in the construction of buildings to strengthen concrete structures.

The rebar cages, around which the concrete is poured, will be produced in Neom-based factories.

The futuristic city is one of the largest single users of steel produced in the world, using around a fifth of global supplies, Manar Al Moneef, Neom’s chief investment officer, told the Global Logistics Forum in Riyadh in October. 

“If you look at our demand in elevators, cement and so on … put simply, Neom is going to be the largest customer over the next few decades,” she said.

Neom, located in the far northwest of Saudi Arabia, is the jewel in the crown of Saudi Arabia’s economic development projects, which have been valued at more than $1.25 trillion.