Ministry of Local Administration signs Saudi memorandum of understanding for smart city development

Agreement Framework and Parties

Syria's Ministry of Local Administration and Environment announced on Thursday the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi company Go Telecom - Ejad Tech, establishing a comprehensive cooperation framework in the fields of digital transformation and smart city solutions. The agreement is valid for one calendar year and represents a further step in the growing Syrian-Saudi bilateral cooperation in the municipal and environmental sector, following an official visit by a ministerial delegation led by Minister Mohammad Anjrani to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia earlier last month.

Strategic Areas of Cooperation

The MoU is structured around four principal strategic pillars:

• Digital transformation strategies and network infrastructure development.
• Information security, data governance, and data protection through advanced encryption technologies to counter cyberattacks and digital intrusions.
• Design and implementation of integrated digital platforms linking local databases to unified central systems under the Ministry.
• Technical knowledge transfer and the training and qualification of Syrian national cadres.

Smart City and Environmental Solutions

The agreement covers the deployment of sustainable smart city solutions, including the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology for energy and lighting management and waste tracking. It also encompasses the development of smart environmental monitoring systems to measure air and water quality as well as industrial emissions, alongside decision-support tools built on intelligent dashboards and data analytics.

Source Code Access and Joint Committee

The MoU stipulates that the source code will be made available within an open and controlled environment, granting the Ministry the right to review and modify it as needed, while the code deployed in production environments will remain encrypted and secured by the Ministry. The agreement also provides for the establishment of a joint committee that will hold periodic meetings to monitor projects and set priorities for shared digital initiatives.

Broader Syrian-Saudi Cooperation Context

This signing follows a separate MoU concluded between Syria and Saudi Arabia earlier last month, aimed at strengthening the exchange of expertise and leveraging Saudi experience in municipal development, digital transformation, and local service organization. Together, these agreements reflect a broader effort to modernize local administration in Syria and improve the quality of services delivered to citizens.