RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group are looking to form an electric vehicles joint venture, in a move that could boost the Kingdom’s effort to diversify its economy.

The parties aim to sign the deal by the end of 2021, but plans are still subject to change, Bloomberg reported. 

The majority stakeholder of the joint venture will be Velocity, a new entity created by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which manages around $450 billion of assets. 

The Taiwanese electronic company will be a minority stakeholder, providing software, electronics and electrical architecture for the electric vehicles. 

The coalition aims to assemble EVs on chassis licensed from BMW AG. 

Saudi Arabia aims to develop the local car-making industry as a way to diversify its economy.

In 2018, the Kingdom’s PIF took a majority stake in Lucid Motors, the EV startup, to encourage the firm to develop a manufacturing site inside the country.

Last November, the chairman of Foxconn, Apple Inc.’s assembly partner, Young Liu, said that the company plans to establish an EV project that focuses on software for passenger cars in the region, Bloomberg reported.