Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – dentsu MENA today announced that it has received its regional headquarters license from the Ministry of Investment and Ministry of Commerce in the Kingdom, reinforcing its commitment toward Vision 2030, driving the transformation program, and supporting ambitious local talent.

As one of the region’s largest media and advertising networks, dentsu already supports many of the government’s vision realisation programs, government ministries and portfolio of investment companies to bring the Saudi Vision 2030 to life for global audiences through a suite of integrated marketing solutions from media to creative and customer experience management. 

André Andrade, CEO of dentsu EMEA, said: “Opening a regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia is a strategic decision that demonstrates dentsu’s commitment to the Kingdom, our support of its transformation and confidence in its economic future. As we accelerate toward 2030 and beyond, we are fully committed to working with and supporting our stakeholders with the next phase of their transformation agendas.”

Tarek Daouk, CEO of dentsu MENA, added: “I am delighted that dentsu MENA has inaugurated its new regional headquarters in Riyadh, and that we are the first of the major advertising holding companies to do so. We want to set the standard and help to build the regional headquarters ecosystem for the media and advertising industry. After more than fifteen years operating in the Kingdom, this is a natural step in our evolution where we aim to continue building longstanding, trusted and mutually beneficial relationships with our clients, partners and people in Saudi Arabia.”

With a rapidly expanding workforce of employees in Saudi Arabia, dentsu aims to become a significant contributor to talent development in the Kingdom. Fostering partnerships with the likes of Prince Sultan University, dentsu will expand its staff numbers over the next three years by recruiting Saudi graduates, with a particular focus on female talent, with the deployment of early careers recruitment programs, internship and learning and development curriculums designed to accelerate gender diversity in leadership roles.  

dentsu has also opened a new flagship office in Riyadh at Business Gate, from which it will service a growing portfolio of local and multinational clients in the Kingdom, building on its existing presence in Riyadh and additional office in Jeddah.