LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan said on the 26th that he met with Saudi Arabia Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, and discussed cooperation plans including supplying cooling solutions for an artificial intelligence (AI) data center under construction in Saudi Arabia's Neom City.
Starting with an air-conditioner business partnership with Saudi Shaker Group in 1995, LG Electronics established a joint venture (JV) in 2006 and has been producing air conditioners in Saudi Arabia. Based on a solid, 30-year partnership, it is strengthening its foothold in the Middle East.
LG Electronics asked for active support and cooperation from the Saudi government on supplying cooling solutions to the AI data center being built in Oxagon, the advanced industrial complex in Neom City, as well as on its air conditioner and home appliance businesses in Saudi Arabia. It also asked for continued interest in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) businesses that LG Electronics is pursuing with local corporations such as Saudi distributor Shaker Group and data infrastructure corporations DataVolt.
Minister Khalid Al-Falih said, "We appreciate that we continue to build a friendly relationship with LG," and added, "Saudi Arabia is transforming into an export-driven country, and if we jointly pursue export-leading businesses, we will actively support them."
This month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, LG Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate as a strategic partner in supplying thermal management solutions for a next-generation data center being built by DataVolt, after meeting with the chairman of Shaker Group and the CEO of the data infrastructure corporation DataVolt. DataVolt is a corporation engaged in the development and operation of hyperscale data centers, based in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, India and the United States, among others. It is currently building the Middle East's largest net-zero AI data center in Neom City, Saudi Arabia, and is making successive investments in the construction of mega data centers in Asia, including Uzbekistan and Bangladesh.
LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan recently noted on LinkedIn, "The Middle East and Africa have tremendous potential, powered by government-led change and large-scale development projects," and added, "Building sustainable, long-term opportunities in the Global South markets with high potential, including the Middle East, is LG Electronics' growth strategy." He also expressed confidence at the IFA 2025, Europe's largest home appliance exhibition, saying, "If cooling solutions go into all of DataVolt's data centers, we will likely reach sales in the trillion-won range."
LG Electronics is expanding business opportunities in AI downstream industries, such as supplying essential cooling solutions for the efficiency and sustainability of data centers, which are core to the AI ecosystem. This year, it won large orders for data center cooling solutions in global markets including the Middle East, the United States and Indonesia.
An LG Electronics official said, "Saudi Arabia is carrying out large-scale, government-led investments to leap forward as the Middle East's AI hub," and added, "Securing the Oxagon project in advance will serve as a strategic springboard for expanding business opportunities in the Middle East going forward."