Saudi Arabia Launches Innovation Award for Military Industries

Saudi Arabia has launched an award to encourage innovation in the military industries, support a promising national industrial stage, create innovative solutions to address the sector's challenges, increase spending efficiency, and improve the level of services and infrastructure.

The General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) launched the Innovation Award in the Military Industries to inspire and encourage innovators to present innovative solutions and address the technical challenges faced by the sector.

GAMI Governor Ahmed al-Ohali said the award allows innovators to deliver qualitative and innovative solutions.

Knowledge impact

GAMI said the award holds a significant knowledge impact through raising awareness about the importance of innovation in the military industries sector and holds economic impact by reducing costs in addressing technical issues with innovative ideas and solutions.

The award also positively affects services and infrastructure, improving the services provided and enhancing infrastructure capabilities with innovative ideas and solutions.

Power of innovation

Several awards for innovation and superior solutions have been launched in various sectors, the most recent of which was an award for innovation in e-learning and training.

The award for military industries will be fundamental in promoting a culture of innovation and supporting talented people to contribute to the development of military industries.

Saudi Arabia aims to increase the level of employing innovative trends in several sectors to promote the efficiency of services and reduce unnecessary spending.

President of the Global Innovation Institute, KSA Chapter Abdulwahed al-Ghanem said Saudi Arabia will continue relying on research, development and innovation.

Ghanem noted that Riyadh will increase the momentum with the launch of the Supreme Committee for Research, Development, and Innovation, chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

Saudi Arabia jumped 15 ranks in the Global Innovation Index for 2022, issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), less than a year after announcing the national aspirations and priorities for research, development, and innovation (RDI).

The Kingdom has also become one of the fastest transforming countries in the world, thanks to its drive to diversify its economy and enter new and promising sectors, according to a report published by Forbes.

The report indicated that Saudi Arabia boosted its efforts with research and innovation in 2022 by raising the number of patents to 963.

Ghanem said Saudi Arabia is in its golden stage of innovation, predicting a prosperous future for the Kingdom that will lead the next wave in research and innovation in the Arab world and Middle East.

SR500 Mn to Support Military Innovation

The Innovation Award in the Military Industries allows innovators to provide qualitative solutions that address some military technical challenges in partnership between the Saudi authorities concerned with supporting the innovation and the army industrialization sectors.

The Saudi partners included the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha'at), the Research Development and Innovation Authority, the General Authority for Defense Development (GADD), and the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI).

Worth SR500 million, the award will be handed out yearly to support the innovations of talented citizens and residents in developing military industries. Submissions be assessed by a committee of specialists in the public and private sectors in several scientific fields.

The submission extends for two and a half months, and the committee will then begin receiving innovative contributions before announcing the winners during Saudi Arabia's World Defense Show in February.

The integration of innovation within military industries, the involvement of Saudi minds in the future of the precision industry, and the provision of diversified solutions will provide a unique opportunity for local and international manufacturers to meet Saudi talents.

Oil prices crept higher on Wednesday as the market focused on potential supply disruptions from sanctions on Russian tankers, though gains were tempered by a lack of clarity on their impact.

Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $80.08 a barrel by 1250 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 26 cents, or 0.34%, at $77.76.

The latest round of US sanctions on Russian oil could disrupt Russian oil supply and distribution significantly, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil market report on Wednesday, adding that "the full impact on the oil market and on access to Russian supply is uncertain".

A fresh round of sanctions angst seems to be supporting prices, along with the prospect of a weekly US stockpile draw, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, Reuters reported.

"Tankers carrying Russian crude seems to be struggling offloading their cargoes around the world, potentially driving some short-term tightness," he added.

The key question remains how much Russian supply will be lost in the global market and whether alternative measures can offset the , shortfall, said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

OPEC, meanwhile, expects global oil demand to rise by 1.43 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2026, maintaining a similar growth rate to 2025, the producer group said on Wednesday.

The 2026 forecast aligns with OPEC's view that oil demand will keep rising for the next two decades. That is in contrast with the IEA, which expects demand to peak this decade as the world shifts to cleaner energy.

The market also found some support from a drop in US crude oil stocks last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday.

Crude stocks fell by 2.6 million barrels last week while gasoline inventories rose by 5.4 million barrels and distillates climbed by 4.88 million barrels, API sources said.

A Reuters poll found that analysts expected US crude oil stockpiles to have fallen by about 1 million barrels in the week to Jan. 10. Stockpile data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).

On Tuesday the EIA trimmed its outlook for global demand in 2025 to 104.1 million barrels per day (bpd) while expecting supply of oil and liquid fuel to average 104.4 million bpd.

It predicted that Brent crude will drop 8% to average $74 a barrel in 2025 and fall further to $66 in 2026 while WTI was projected to average $70 in 2025, dropping to $62 in 2026.

Saudi Arabia Launches Innovation Award for Military Industries