Saudi Ministry of Defense announces the qualification of more than 90 factories for military manufa

[The SC]

Middle east

The Ministry of Defense announced the qualification of more than 90 Saudi factories in the military industries by international companies that provide more than 6 thousand parts varieties used in the systems of the Saudi armed forces, and some of them abroad.
Major General Attiya al-Maliki, director of the General Directorate of the Ministry of Defense's local manufacturing support, told Asharq Al-Awsat, "The vision of the Kingdom is to achieve 50 per cent of the military expenditure by 2030," he said. "The military industry is being carefully planned to reach 50 per cent by 2030," Major General Attiya al-Maliki said, "Now we are allocating 10 percent to short-term contracts of one to three years and when we talk about 10 percent in 3 years, we will achieve 50 percent over the next 15 years."
Al-Maliki pointed out that in the case of international companies, more than 90 Saudi factories have been qualified by international companies since the previous exhibition and are using the products of the Saudi factories in the armed forces and systems outside the Kingdom. "This is undoubtedly an addition to local factories that proved their quality and competition, In prices, specifications and delivery time ».

Major General Attiya Al-Maliki was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference held yesterday in Riyadh to announce the exhibition of the armed forces to support the local industrialization (2018) in its fourth session under the slogan «Our industry ... Our strength», sponsored by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, and held under the directives of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Council for Economic Affairs and Development.
The exhibition will be held at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center from 25 February to 3 March 2018.

The Director General of the General Directorate of Local Manufacturing Support pointed out that this year's exhibition is characterized by the participation of the guest of honor for the first time, the Republic of Turkey, in order to allow the Turkish industrial companies to present their products and requirements and to establish partnerships with their counterparts from the Saudi side to contribute in the transfer and localization of technology. And take advantage of manufacturing opportunities to meet the needs of raw materials and spare parts manufactured locally to achieve the economic return of the two sides, and exchange of research experiences between the scientific centers of both countries to support and develop the output of local manufacturing to achieve self-sufficiency, in addition to the participation of speakers at a high level from the Turkish side in the lectures and workshops associated with the work of the exhibition AFED to display the experience and expertise of Turkey in the field of manufacturing, transportation and technology localization.

Major General Attiyah al-Maliki said that the number of contracts signed by local factories since the previous exhibition exceeded 500 contracts, reducing the challenges facing the localization of military industries in the presence of the great and unlimited support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince. "King Salman and the Crown Prince always resolve any obstacles or challenges. In the past, we have been faced with the challenge of financial procedures," he said. "Now the system of competition and government procurement is a reviewed to bring national manufacturers priority in contracts."

Major General Al Malki stressed that the objective of the AFD is to present the manufacturing opportunities of materials and spare parts by the participating parties in the exhibition to enhance communication with national factories and increase the use of local content. It also enables national factories, laboratories and research centers specialized in the industrial field to introduce their products and capabilities to support local manufacturing, In addition to supporting the local industry and developing it in accordance with international standards and quality standards and contributing to the transfer and localization of the complementary materials industry through partnership with international companies as well as recycling of financial resources, encourage Saudization programs, bring foreign capital and investments to the domestic market and to find a long-term strategic relationship with the private sector in the field of local manufacturing with the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Director General of the General Directorate of Local Manufacturing Support explained that the exhibition is divided into five sections. The first includes the requirements of the military and civilian beneficiaries such as the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of National Guard, the Ministry of Interior, the State Security Presidency, the Royal Guard Presidency, the General Establishment for Military Industries, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, as well as localization partners represented in Aramco, SABIC, Ma'aden, and the Saudi Electricity Company, anticipating that the participating parties will be offered about 80,000 thousand categories and classes of parts as investment opportunities.
The second section includes - according to Maliki - the international companies that have contracts with the Ministry of Defense and the participating bodies such as Boeing, British Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Electric, General Dynamics, Aselsan and Norinko to demonstrate their capabilities and requirements of Materials and spare parts systems for the purpose of localization of their industry in the Kingdom.
The third section contains the relevant governmental bodies to communicate between the beneficiaries and the private sector, including ministries, government agencies and funds, research centers and laboratories. While the fourth section includes factories, national companies and economic balance companies to introduce their products and manufacturing capabilities, which proved a high capacity in the specifications and quality and competition for the external price and fast supply to the beneficiaries. The fifth section will present some local and international systems.

Maliki announced that the Crown Prince and his interest in pushing the wheel of the national economy and support the local content and small and medium enterprises was directed to the exhibition every two years.

For his part, Eng. Ahmed Al-Rajhi, Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry said that the exhibition aims to localize and support local industrialization and develop the contribution of local companies in the industrial sector to raise the level of local industry in the national economy to achieve the vision of the Kingdom 2030 and carries many investment opportunities for the private sector And before that it is an important tributary to serve our armed sectors, which we are proud of.
He added: "The private sector is keen to contribute to the promotion of products and manufacturing needs of the military sectors, where the number of items required to manufacture at this exhibition presents 80.000 opportunities».

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[Saif al-Arab]