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Saudi Arabia eyes defence partnership with UAE

Abu Dhabi - Saudi Arabia is starting a new military industry and aims to spend 50 per cent of the military budget locally by 2030.

Saudi Arabia plans to invest $20 billion in the military industry over the next decade and is looking at collaborations with the UAE and other allies, a top official from the Kingdom said in Abu Dhabi.

“The government has put a plan that we will be investing in excess of $10 billion in the military industry in Saudi Arabia over the next decade and equal amounts on research and development. I think it requires a lot of collaborations in terms of research and development. We have issued 114 licences for 70 companies in Saudi Arabia, about a 20 per cent of them are foreign joint ventures or full ownership by the foreign companies,” said Ahmad bin Abdulaziz Al Ohali, Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries – Saudi Arabia, during the International Defence Conference on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia, Al Ohali said, is starting a new military industry and aims to spend 50 per cent of the military budget locally by 2030.

“It is a very ambitious vision but with the help of our friends and allies, I am sure we will be making very good pace. We are currently spending 0.2 per cent of our armaments R&D in Saudi Arabia, which is almost nothing. Our plan by 2030, is to achieve 4 per cent, which is the global average. It takes a lot of effort for collaborations with the UAE, the US and Europe in order to be able to reach to that level,” he added.

Al Ohali pointed out that collaboration and competition are key aspects to succeed in business. “We are working for example with the UAE’s Tawazun and Edge (Group) in order to establish technology partnerships and joint ventures. We’re working with Lockheed Martin and we have Sami (Saudi Arabian Military Industries). We are on the verge of having several joint ventures and technology partnerships with our friends and allies. I think we are taking it with a lot of challenge and passion, and we will definitely achieve our goal,” he said during a panel discussion with Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Lockheed Martin senior vice-president Tim Cahill and Diehl Defence CEO Helmut Rauch.

The conference comes as part of the five-day International Defence Exhibition and the Naval Defence Exhibition, which starts at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company from Sunday.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com