RIYADH- Saudi Arabia is making significant progress in the manufacturing ofspare parts and military industries in the Kingdom, which has allowedsignificant savings through domestically manufactured products againstimported ones.
“The savings – expected to be achieved by localizing 50 percent of themilitary spending amounting to 33 billion riyals ($8.8 bln) – is beingre-injected into the Saudi economy,” said the director of the localmanufacturing support department at the Saudi Defense Ministry, MajorGeneral Attiyah al-Maliki.
Al-Maliki said in an interview with Al Arabiya on the sidelines of theArmed Forces Exhibition to Support Local Manufacturing (AFED 2018) that theexhibition witnessed the signing of 33 memorandums of understanding andagreements since its launch among national companies, internationalcompanies and research centers, including 15 agreements which were signedrecently.
This marks the beginning of the cooperation stage to localize productions,in preparation for concluding contracts between the parties concerned.
The participants offered about 80,000 investment opportunities tomanufacture the materials and spare parts needed before the businessmen,companies, institutions and national factories.
Al-Maliki said that about 800 Saudi factories have applied to seize theseopportunities.
There is a clear and rapid interest from foreign companies to transfer thetechnical knowhow needed for the localization of the military industries.
Al-Maliki revealed that foreign companies are taking the actual steps toequip local factories specialized in the manufacturing and maintenance ofaircraft engine spare parts.
He noted the remarkable presence of more than 68 international companies(European, American, Turkish, Korean and Chinese) in the exhibition whichwere keen on partnerships with Saudi factories.
Al-Maliki does not deny that the localization of military industries isfacing many challenges and obstacles, notably the lack of human resourcesand technical abilities, as well as weak cooperation between localfactories in the Kingdom.