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Saudi Investment Ministry Signs 12 MoUs with Int’l Companies at World Defense Show 2024

World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh (SPA)
World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh (SPA)
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Saudi Investment Ministry Signs 12 MoUs with Int’l Companies at World Defense Show 2024

World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh (SPA)
World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh (SPA)

The Ministry of Investment has concluded its participation in the World Defense Show 2024, held in Riyadh, where it showcased available investment opportunities in the Kingdom as well as the support services it offers to investors as it leads the national endeavor to improve the investment climate in the Kingdom, SPA said on Friday.
During the four-day conference that ended Thursday, the Ministry of Investment and the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) signed 12 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with international companies working in the defense sector -- including Airbus, Leonardo industrial group, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Roketsan, and others -- in a bid to enhance cooperation in areas related to investment in the defense sector in the Kingdom.
It discussed a wide range of investment opportunities that will contribute to achieving the Kingdom's ambitious goals to increase the contribution of foreign direct investment to gross domestic product (GDP) to 5.7%, the contribution of the private sector to GDP to 65%, and to localize 50% of spending on the military sector by 2030.
The Ministry of Investment also sponsored an agreement to establish a joint entity between Qudra Industrial Co. and Steelcore Inc. to localize, manufacture, and innovate small arms.
The World Defense Show is held every two years with the aim of empowering defense and security institutions to keep pace with defense developments and technical solutions in line with the targets of the Saudi Vision 2030.

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Trump’s Trade War Is ‘Wake-up Call’ for Europe, Lagarde Says 

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde looks on as she speaks to the media following the Governing Council's monthly monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde looks on as she speaks to the media following the Governing Council's monthly monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump’s Trade War Is ‘Wake-up Call’ for Europe, Lagarde Says 

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde looks on as she speaks to the media following the Governing Council's monthly monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde looks on as she speaks to the media following the Governing Council's monthly monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)

A full-scale global trade war would hurt the United States in particular and could re-energize Europe's push towards unity, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Friday.

The US has imposed a raft of tariffs on friends and foes alike and threatened even more measures, prompting retaliation from most and raising concern that global growth could take a major hit.

"If we were to go to a real trade war, where trade would be dampened significantly, that would have severe consequences," Lagarde told BBC's HARDTalk program. "It would have severe consequences for growth around the world and for prices around the world, but particularly in the United States."

However, these tensions could also have the positive side effect of giving European unity another push, Lagarde argued.

"You know what it's doing at the moment? Stirring European energy. It's a big wake-up call for Europe. Maybe this is a European moment, yet again," she said.

The European Commission and Germany, the bloc's biggest economy, have already announced increased spending on defense and infrastructure, ending years of reluctance to spend, Lagarde argued.

This "collective waking up" also appears to include the UK, which left the European Union, as it's taking part in Europe's security effort, Lagarde argued.

Many of the EU's large scale efforts to deepen unity have been stalled for the better part of the last decade and former ECB chief Mario Draghi delivered a scathing report on the European project last year.

Leaders, however, have taken few if any steps to implement Draghi's reform proposals, even as the bloc is barely growing now and Germany suffered two straight years to economic contraction.