Saudi Arabia and the American electric car manufacturer Tesla are in talks to build an electric car manufacturing facility in the Kingdom.

According to some of these sources, Saudi Arabia is seeking to attract Tesla by securing the right to purchase certain quantities of metals that the company needs for its electric vehicles from countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Wall Street Journal reported that if the talks succeed and an agreement is reached with Saudi Arabia, this could help Tesla achieve its aspirations to sell 20 million cars annually by 2030, up from about 1.3 million in 2022.

Saudi Arabia is the largest oil exporter in the world and the largest Arab economy, and it seeks to diversify its sources of income and reduce its dependence on oil.

Tesla owner Elon Musk said that his company will likely need approximately 10 factories to achieve its own goal and could announce another factory by the end of this year. Tesla currently manufactures cars in the United States, China and Germany, and said it plans to do so in Mexico.