Joby Aviation could be joining Abu Dhabi’s SAVI: US electric aircraft maker Joby Aviation plans to participate in Abu Dhabi’s newly formed Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (SAVI) cluster, according to a statement by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. The California-based company aims to take part in the cluster “to support the maturation of technology that will enable it to fly its aircraft autonomously in the future.”

What is SAVI? The UAE plans to set up the SAVI cluster in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to bring in AED 90 bn (c. USD 24.5 bn) to AED 120 bn to the economy. The formation of the cluster will help boost Abu Dhabi’s “position as a global hub for the development of smart and autonomous vehicles,” according to a statement by the Abu Dhabi Media Office last week.

China’s WeRide is also in: Chinese autonomous driving startup WeRide will set up its regional headquarters in SAVI, Wam reports. The Abu Dhabi headquarters will “operate as the regional headquarters to transform autonomous driving technology into concrete industry applications…”.

REMEMBER- UAE eyes being a pioneer in autonomous mobility: The UAE granted its first national license for self-driving vehicles to China’s WeRide in July — a first in the Middle East and “even globally,”. The license grants WeRide the right to conduct various road testing and operations of self-driving vehicles in the country.