King Saud University (KSU) has signed a $500 million deal with an unnamed South Korean firm to manufacture cars for the Gulf and North African markets. according to the SPA. It aims to produce a prototype in two years.

Abdullah al-Othman, president, KSU has said that Wadi al-Riyadh Technology, the university’s investment subsidiary would control 10 per cent of the capital, the South Korean firm 30 per cent and 70 per cent offered to private investors.

This is the second project to develop the local manufacturing industry by KSU after it announced in June the first locally built car, suited to the desert climate called “Ghazal 1”. KSU plans to manufacture 20,000 units a year.