CJ ENM has announced the opening of a wholly owned subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first major Korean media and entertainment company to establish a base in the country.
The move builds on CJ ENM’s growing ties with Saudi Arabia, which has become the Middle East and North Africa’s fastest growing media and entertainment market in the wake of its opening up in 2017 as part of its 2030 strategy moving the economy away from a reliance on oil.
CJ ENM signed a MOU with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture in 2022, followed by a 2023 MOU with Manga Productions, a Saudi Arabian content company, to co-produce and distribute content across animation, TV series, films, webtoons, and media infrastructure.
The company also successfully hosted KCON, the World’s largest K-POP Fan & Artist Festival, in Saudi Arabia for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023.
More recently, CJ ENM also inked a major content deal with Shahid, the Middle East and North Africa region’s largest Arabic-language streaming platform, to bring 20 Korean series to a broader MENA audience.
Discussions are also ongoing with Saudi entertainment and hospitality holding Sela, following the signing of a strategic partnership in 2024, aimed at creating synergies between the latter’s expertise in large-scale sports, music, and cultural events and CJ ENM’s activities.
CJ ENM Yoon Sang-hyun said the launch of the Saudi subsidiary, which will be based in the capital of Riyadh, marked a significant step in the company’s international growth drive, which kicked off this year in unison with the company’s 30th anniversary.
“Establishing a presence in Saudi Arabia allows us to actively engage in emerging global markets and strengthen our global competitiveness,” he said.
CJ ENM said that through the new subsidiary, it plans to pursue wide-ranging business collaborations across music, television, film, live entertainment, and both scripted and unscripted content.
Among its objectives are the development of audition programs based on CJ ENM’s MCS (Music Creative eco-System) and artist discovery initiatives in partnership with local studios. In the live entertainment sector, CJ ENM plans to host K-pop concerts leveraging both its own and external IP.
“The MENA region, and Saudi Arabia in particular, presents unprecedented potential for cultural and commercial collaboration,” said Hyun Soo Kim, General Manager of CJ ENM Middle East LLC. “To build strong local networks and ensure stable operations, we are partnering with Sela—Saudi Arabia’s leading live events and experiences company —to expand the influence of K-culture.”
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