RIYADH, Mar 8 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia inked 2.13 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of deals, with local and foreign defence companies, at the ongoing World Defence Show in Riyadh, it was reported yesterday.
The 22 deals cover direct purchases of military systems, the building of production lines, knowledge transfer and training, and the localisation of technologies and services, the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), the Gulf state’s military industry regulator was quoted as saying.
The contracts come, in line with the Industrial Participation Programme, said the report.
The programme was launched in 2019, with the aim of investing and developing existing local capacities, and build new capabilities in the targeted industrial segments, according to GAMI’s website.
Saudi Arabia planned to develop and manufacture more weapons and military systems domestically, aiming to spend 50 percent of the military budget on localisation efforts, by 2030.
