Kakao Mobility Corp. has secured its first overseas infrastructure contract, partnering with Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Company to develop smart parking and mobility platforms for the kingdom’s $63 billion urban development project.
The memorandum of understanding signed May 25 positions the South Korean ride-hailing giant to provide digital transport systems for a site targeting 50 million annual visitors by 2030. The deal represents a significant departure from Kakao Mobility’s typical taxi-booking services, thrusting the company into large-scale infrastructure development.
The partnership comes as Kakao Mobility faces mounting challenges at home, including regulatory scrutiny over its near-monopolistic position in Korea’s ride-hailing market and legal uncertainties surrounding its parent company’s management. Previous overseas expansion attempts have stumbled, with the company failing to complete a planned acquisition of European mobility platform FreeNow.
For Saudi Arabia, the collaboration adds to an ambitious portfolio of Vision 2030 projects that have faced criticism and reassessment. Other mega-developments including NEOM have been scaled back significantly from original plans. The Diriyah project, backed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, aims to transform a 14-square-kilometer area into a luxury destination featuring resorts, hospitals and shopping centers.
While Kakao Mobility has expanded its taxi services to 37 countries and recorded 600,000 international ride requests as of March, infrastructure development presents new execution risks for the Korean company.
