Zain KSA has recently accomplished a series of noteworthy achievements to support the expansion of its services and activities and further instill its position as a pioneer within the ICT sector. It secured the largest 5G network roll-out, was named as the 18th best brand in Saudi Arabia for the first time, and launched the electronic SIM card. These achievements come at a time of rapid growth for the Kingdom's contributions and role as an information technology and communications global hub, in parallel with it presiding over the G20. This also sheds light on the vitality of the ICT sector in Saudi Arabia and its significance as a pillar supporting the Kingdom's economic and social advancement aiming to keep pace with the digital transformation journey incepted by Saudi Vision 2030, ultimately seeking to position Saudi Arabia as a leader of digital transformation on regional and global fronts. Zain KSA achieved an extraordinary milestone by completing the first phase of its 5G roll-out which covers a total of 28 cities via 2600 towers. It is regarded as the largest 5G network in the MENA, and places the Kingdom in the lead position regionally. Zain KSA strives to ensure access to this remarkable service by everyone to benefit from its numerous solutions and capabilities, including virtual and augmented reality, automation and robotics, video games, and much more. In an unprecedented achievement, Zain KSA was named as the 18th best brand in Saudi Arabia and joined the list of Saudi Arabia's top 50 brands issued by Brand Finance's annual report, which identifies the 50 strongest and most valuable brands in the Kingdom. Brand Finance's annual report outlines a number of indexes to rank brands, including the brand value, brand equity, brand performance, the company's marketing policies, customer loyalty, and employee satisfaction. This achievement tops up a series of recent awards won by Zain KSA, including the Best Middle East operator accolade for 2019 by the respected regional telecom publication CommsMEA. In addition, it also won the award for Best 5G Infrastructure at the 2019 Telecom Review Leaders' Summit. Zain KSA has launched its most technologically advanced and user-friendly electronic SIM card (eSIM), which is a built-in chip included within the motherboard of phones or smart devices, and is characterized by its ability to add an additional number to smart devices without the need for a traditional sim. It also helps improve battery performance as it consumes a very small percentage of the battery power. On the financial front, Zain KSA achieved record-high financial results for 2019 with net profits amounting to SR485 million compared to SR332 million for 2018. Such positive fiscal results are a result of the company's improved operational performance and an increased demand for its services reflected in increased revenues. The company was able to apply a balanced methodology for expenditure efficiency that contributed towards reducing operational and administrative expenses and increasing operational profits. Driven by a strategy of deploying its services to the widest scale and establishing its position within the IoT services field, Zain KSA signed a partnership agreement with "AliBaba Cloud", the leading global cloud computing entity, to launch "Zain Cloud" for the business sector. Zain KSA also initiated investing in drone operations under the name "Zain Drone", where information collection and processing services are provided through systems based on analysis, artificial intelligence, and cloud networks. Moreover, Zain entered the digital financial services field, FinTech, through its micro-lending platform, "Tamam", established as part of the SAMA Sandbox environment. Zain KSA is also considered as one of the Kingdom's top employers of Saudi youth, as national talents constitute 86% of the company's workforce and 92% of its leadership positions. Additionally, Zain KSA has appointed Saudi women in leadership positions, in a step that demonstrates the company's great confidence in the distinguished national talents on the one hand, and in women's leadership skills on the other. Today more than ever, Zain KSA is reiterating its commitment to pursue development and investment in technologies to support all the Kingdom's economic sectors through business solutions, IoT and innovative services, which enhances non-oil GDP growth, generates thousands of job opportunities for citizens, and contributes to achieving the targets of Saudi Vision 2030 to position the Kingdom as a global ICT hub. — SG
