Saudi has the right to spend what it wishes off-course.
Is part of the cost then technology transfer to allow Saudi to build up it's own defence industries over time?
Yes it is.
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Bubblegum Crisis can elaborate on that in terms of links on this forum. I don't have them by hand right now.
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farhan_9909
With all due respect then KSA has a lot of agricultural areas (some the size of countries) and is one of the most rich countries in terms of resources in the region other than just oil and gas. Roughly half of the country is mountainous or hilly. Anyway in fact Iran has bigger gas reserves than KSA. It seems that you are clueless about KSA, no offense.
In fact KSA could be more or less self-sufficient in terms of agriculture if the resources were better used and there would be a much better focus on the agricultural sector and bigger investments there.
I posted several articles on this matter recently on this forum.
The only main problem, which is a problem for all countries in the ME, are the water resources. But that will be solved by sea water that will be transformed into drinking water at a much bigger scale than what we see today. That would give full security on the long run. People are also very good at wasting water and unlike in the West and Europe the focus on green energy is very low although that is slowly changing.
KSA has one of the longest coastlines in the world so plenty of opportunities there. There are over 300 dams in the mountainous regions of KSA (Hijaz, Najran, Asir, Al-Baha, Jazan) as well.
New water strategy planned | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.
KSA has the biggest potential for solar and wind energy in the region by far. The population is rapidly growing as well. The industrial base is getting bigger and bigger for each month as well.
KSA has also the fourth biggest number of foreign students in the USA (nearly 50.000) IN THE WORLD after China, India and South Korea. Those people when they return will obviously all be highly educated and contribute very positively to the society.
If not for some, in my eyes stupid laws, the country's economic growth would be much, much bigger. Those certain laws are a great hindrance for economic growth. For a long time Saudi Arabian women have only contributed very little to the overall growth. That is changing at a rapid rate while we speak. At the same time you have had plenty of deportation of illegals in recent months. Also helps positively since the jobs they have occupied are now being occupied by actual citizens.
They (the certain laws I am talking about) are a great hindrance for economic growth overall but that is not something we can blame others for other than ourselves.
Some of the right decisions that have taking place in the last 10 years could and maybe also SHOULD have taken place way before since KSA has practically been a stable country since its birth 81 years ago.
But it is better to correct the mistakes now than never!