Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Paramount Group, an aerospace and technology company, announced the signing of a high-level defence collaboration agreement, in line with Saudi Arabia’s vision for an integrated defence industrial ecosystem
In support of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s economic development plan, which sets an ambitious goal to increase the domestic share of military equipment expenditure to 50 per cent by 2030, the multiple collaboration agreement between SAMI and Paramount Group will see the development of technologies and capabilities across land, sea and air, as well as system integration.
Andreas Schwer, CEO of SAMI, said, “This will contribute significantly to further enhancing the capability of Saudi Armed Forces and increasing local content, in addition to creating new job opportunities and training for Saudi youth to increase their contribution and raise their role in this vital industry and the national economy in general.
Ivor Ichikowitz, Group Chairman of Paramount Group, added, “Saudi Arabia is important to Paramount Group as much of the technology that we have created over the years has been developed with the Middle East in mind. We share the vision of the Crown Prince and his economic development plan. We are sensitive to the requirements of our customers to establish strategic industrial capability and put a strong focus on assisting governments in creating domestic manufacturing capacity.”
Vision 2030 also points out that existing Saudi defence companies have tended to focus on less complex processes such as supplying spare parts and manufacturing basic ammunition. Vision 2030 envisages the domestic manufacture of much more complex, higher-value military equipment, such as aircraft, supported by the development of an integrated national network of services and industries.
SAMI was created to lead this restructuring of Saudi Arabia’s military manufacturing capability which is expected to contribute US$3.7bn to the country’s GDP by 2030, create more than 40,000 jobs for Saudi engineers and technicians, and invest US$1.6bn in research and development.
