Alat (Alat) and Carrier Global Corporation announced their commitment to build a cutting-edge manufacturing and R&D facility in Saudi Arabia that will deliver advanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) solutions. The partnership will serve customers in the Kingdom, and its vision Giga projects, such as NEOM, as well as ensure broader regional - and even global - distribution. Alat was established on February 1, 2023, by His Royal Highness PrinceMoh Mohammed bin Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alat.

The agreement will leverage Alat's financial strengths and Carrier's technology and manufacturing capabilities to develop made-in-Saudi Arabia intelligent climate solutions, marking the first phase of the partnership with Alat. These offerings will address the continued growth of the HVAC industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which is expected to become a USD 10 billion addressable market by 2030 - and a USD 334 billion market globally by 2030 - driven by secular trends including urbanization, sustainability and energy solutions, and digital transformation. This market will also provide scale to develop products, such as solutions for district cooling and heating, which could be used globally.

Carrier and Alat plan to break ground later this year on an advanced sustainable manufacturing and R &D facility in the Kingdom that will provide high-volume, high-tech, energy-efficient HVAC products including variable refrigerant flow (VRF), air-cooled chillers, air handling units (AHUs) and rooftop units for MENA markets, supported by local supply chain. R&D will focus on developing breakthrough technologies to meet region-specific requirements, such as high ambient temperature and natural/Low GWP refrigerant HVAC systems, both of which can also be exported globally. As many as 5,000 jobs are expected to be created locally to support the project.

With access to over 2 billion consumers, Saudi Arabia's location is not only at the center of the Gulf, but also at the heart of major trade routes crossing Europe, the Middle East and Asia, where Saudi Arabia is forging a new economic partnership with the recently formed India Middle East Europe Corridor (IMEC). The Kingdom is accelerating the adoption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution applications, enhancing supply chain and logistics. While the number of factories in Saudi Arabia has increased by 50% in the last year, with over 10,000 industrial facilities, the Kingdom expects to host 32,000 manufacturing facilities by 2035.