Saudi MODON Attracts Investments Worth $34.6 Mn to Localize Aircraft Industries

A view of an exhibit at the World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A view of an exhibit at the World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Saudi MODON Attracts Investments Worth $34.6 Mn to Localize Aircraft Industries

A view of an exhibit at the World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A view of an exhibit at the World Defense Show 2024 in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) has attracted investments worth $34.6 million to localize military aircraft industries, including drones, and provide repair, maintenance, and overhaul services for ships.

The investment is one of the authority’s objectives to promote investment opportunities in industrial cities among major local and international companies.

MODON signed two contracts to allocate two ready-made factories with an area of 700 square meters and investments of $13.3 million in manufacturing military aircraft, parts and pieces of military and civil aircraft, and drones.

It concluded a contract to allocate a logistics land area of 3,000 square meters and investments of $8 million for ship repair and maintenance.

The contract also stipulates repair, maintenance, and overhaul services for spare parts for military vehicles, aircraft, ships, water filtration devices, ship and train engines, and valves.

MODON participated in a pavilion in the second edition of the World Defense Show 2024, held in Riyadh between February 4 and 8.

The event was held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, to represent the industrial sector and highlight the qualitative opportunities, capabilities, and incentives to enable military industries to align with the National Industrial Strategy.

According to MODON, the benefits of investing in its 36 industrial cities throughout the Kingdom include the availability of a labor force, advanced infrastructure, and logistical solutions that help achieve a competitive and sustainable industrial economy.



Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
TT

Oil Edges Up on Strong US GDP Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

Oil prices were up slightly on Friday on stronger-than-expected US economic data that raised investor expectations for increasing crude oil demand from the world's largest energy consumer.

But concerns about soft economic conditions in Asia's biggest economies, China and Japan, capped gains.

Brent crude futures for September rose 7 cents to $82.44 a barrel by 0014 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 4 cents to $78.32 per barrel, Reuters reported.

In the second quarter, the US economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualised rate of 2.8% as consumers spent more and businesses increased investments, Commerce Department data showed. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted US gross domestic product would grow by 2.0% over the period.

At the same time, inflation pressures eased, which kept intact expectations that the Federal Reserve would move forward with a September interest rate cut. Lower interest rates tend to boost economic activity, which can spur oil demand.

Still, continued signs of trouble in parts of Asia limited oil price gains.

Core consumer prices in Japan's capital were up 2.2% in July from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, raising market expectations of an interest rate hike in the near term.

But an index that strips away energy costs, seen as a better gauge of underlying price trends, rose at the slowest annual pace in nearly two years, suggesting that price hikes are moderating due to soft consumption.

China, the world's biggest crude importer, surprised markets for a second time this week by conducting an unscheduled lending operation on Thursday at steeply lower rates, suggesting authorities are trying to provide heavier monetary stimulus to prop up the economy.