Saudi Housing Ministry Launches Sakani Metaverse

The Saudi Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing announced it has the launch of a metaverse platform, Sakani Metaverse, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, to improve the quality of life for the citizens.

The housing ministry’s announcement came during its participation in the LEAP 2023, held in Riyadh, from February 6 to 9 with the participation of dozens of experts, government officials, and representatives of companies who discussed the latest developments in virtual reality, fintech, Fourth Industrial Revolution, and smart cities.

In this regard, Rayan bin Abdullah Al-Aql, the head of the individual solution sector at the National Housing Company (NHC) of Saudi Arabia, said Sakani will allow those who are interested in buying real estate to have a look at the properties they want in the metaverse instead of conducting field visits.

Aql pointed out that Sakani would provide different housing options for the beneficiaries and offer new aspects of cooperation between real estate companies, brokers, and buyers in an attempt to upgrade the level of quality of life.

During the event, Saudi Arabia saw the launch and sign of metaverse-related initiatives, topped by the inking of a memorandum of understanding between the Saudi Arabia Digital Government Authority (DGA) and the metaverse giant The Sandbox to boost cooperation in the virtual space.

The metaverse is expected to contribute $15 billion to the economies of the Gulf countries by 2030 given that their governments are tapping into the virtual space, according to a study by Strategy&.

Saudi Arabia topped the GCC countries in terms of metaverse contributions, as it is predicted to account for $7.6 billion by 2030 (more than half of the figure. While the UAE came second with an expected share of $3.3 billion. The predicted figures reflect the two countries’ tremendous efforts to deploy the usage of the metaverse in their respective national program, the report noted.