The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) announced today the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with ‎the prestigious IE University of Spain to launch the IE Center for Leadership, Development, and Innovation in the Middle ‎East. This center will be hosted within Riyadh’s Creative District, as part of the RCRC’s efforts to transform Riyadh into a ‎global destination for culture and creativity, in line with Saudi Vision 2030’s objectives.‎

RCRC Board of Directors launched the Creative District initiative last February, with King Abdullah Financial District ‎‎(KAFD) hosting its first phase. This initiative contributes to supporting Saudi Arabia’s creative economy by enhancing ‎collaboration opportunities between local and international talents and companies, and by attracting global firms in ‎three main sectors:‎

• Media (including gaming, TV production and distribution, and music recording and distribution).‎
• Culture (encompassing performing arts and visual arts).‎
• Media Technologies (such as social media platforms, and software for media, advertising, and public relations ‎technology).‎

The IE Center will serve as a collaborative hub, bringing together entrepreneurs, professional business leaders, and ‎creatives to meet, learn, and exchange ideas. It will also foster knowledge exchange between Saudi Arabia, the wider ‎Middle East region, and the global community.‎

The center’s activities will revolve around three main components:‎

• IE Entrepreneurship Center: A platform dedicated to supporting and developing startups and entrepreneurs ‎through training and mentorship.‎
• IE Leadership Center: Designed to hone the skills of executives in the region through cutting-edge ‎educational programs.‎
• IE Design and Media Lab: A creative environment for ideation, experimentation, and exploring emerging ‎trends, supported by IE’s Metaverse and Gaming Experience Lab.‎

The signing ceremony was attended by Eng. Mazen Ahmed Tammar, Acting Vice President of the City Marketing and ‎Investment Promotion Sector at the RCRC, His Excellency Mr. José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, and Mr. ‎William Dávila Valeri, CEO of the IE Center for Leadership and Innovation in the Middle East, representing IE University.‎

Eng. Mazen Tammar expressed RCRC’s pride in this unique partnership with IE University, highlighting that its academic ‎reputation and pioneering curricula in leadership, creativity, and technology represent significant added value. He noted ‎that this collaboration will enhance the Kingdom’s creative economy by empowering national competencies, connecting ‎them with the global ecosystem, and localizing content creation, thereby achieving national development goals.‎

He added: “With the participation of institutions like IE, Riyadh’s Creative District becomes a powerful engine for ‎economic and social transformation, supporting the development of the next generation of Saudi executives and ‎entrepreneurs in the creative and technology sectors.”‎

For his part, Mr. William Dávila, CEO of the IE Center for Leadership and Innovation in Riyadh, articulated that IE ‎University’s delight in collaborating with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City on what he described as an ambitious and ‎forward-looking initiative. He affirmed that the center represents a pioneering platform for innovation in education ‎across the region, and will offer multidisciplinary learning environments, advanced curricula, and world-class academic ‎competencies, in addition to a strong network of international partners in both the academic and industrial sectors. He ‎looks forward to the programs commencing in the last quarter of the current year, and for the center to become a ‎contributing and active part of the Saudi Arabia’s creative ecosystem.‎

It is worth noting that IE University, founded over fifty years ago in the Spanish capital Madrid, is one of the most ‎prominent global educational institutions in management, leadership, and innovation. It comprises six specialized ‎schools: Business, Law, Politics, Economics and International Affairs, Architecture and Design, Science and Technology, ‎and Humanities. It boasts over 500 faculty members, hosts students from more than 160 countries, and its alumni ‎network includes over 82,000 graduates across 185 countries.‎