Partnerships will remain a key component when developing indigenous defense capabilities, the UAE’s EDGE Group director of international business said during Saudi Arabia’s World Defense Show in Riyadh.
The flagship Saudi event is one of many around the world where companies like EDGE visit to form new connections and showcase the latest technology.
According to EDGE Group director of international business Miles Chambers, essential components with highly confidential or compromising information will be built and secured by local talent.
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“Key areas that we’ve identified as critical, we’ll invest in having that capability indigenously,” he told Al Arabiya English.
Similarly with Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030 goals provide a framework to achieve 50 percent localization of spending on military equipment and services.
This way, job creation is exponentially increased, and industrial sectors like industrial equipment, communications and information technology are simulated.
Despite the Kingdom being the third largest military spender, only two percent of this spending happens within the country, according to an undated online report from the government about Vision 2030.
This is changing, however.
On Tuesday at the World Defense Show, a statement from the event stated that Saudi Arabia had signed 10 deals worth $1.8 billion (SAR 7 billion) with local and international agencies, many of which also include a clause to localize production, development and/or supply chain and logistics.
This is in addition to the $2.3 billion (SAR 8 billion) in deals that were signed on Monday.
In an exclusive statement to Al Arabiya English, Mikail Houari, President of Airbus Africa and Middle East said that the show “highlights the need of greater localization of skills and capabilities within the defense sector.”
Airbus claims to employ 350 people in the Kingdom of which more than 30 percent are Saudi nationals.
Lockheed Martin, another US-based defense company signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries to localize manufacturing of missile interceptor launchers and missile interceptor canisters.
A Lockheed spokesperson, in a statement to Al Arabiya English, said that the latest move comes in recognition of Saudi Arabia’s industrial base and the growth opportunity it provides.
The World Defense Show was launched to showcase the Kingdom’s defense capability and integrate with future focused defense technology. But importantly, the event is also acting as a platform to connect Saudi suppliers and buyers with international market leaders.
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