The World Defense Show, which concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday, saw the signing of military and defense contracts between local and international parties with a total value estimated at 29.7 billion riyals ($7.92 billion), according to figures issued by the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI).
GAMI said that the value of the contracts reflected the importance of the event as a global platform to build quality partnerships and promote efforts to develop defense and security industries locally and internationally. It noted that the contracts included the manufacture of defense systems, military equipment, vehicles, ammunition and support services.
National companies’ share in the contracts amounted to 46 percent, with a total value of 10 billion riyals ($2.6 billion), which will contribute to localizing military industries in the Kingdom through technology transfer and technical and human capacity building.
The World Defense Show, which was hosted in Riyadh on March 6-9, featured 600 exhibitors from 42 countries, in the presence of more than 80 military delegations, and 65,000 visitors representing 85 states.
Governor of GAMI Ahmad Al-Ohali said: “The networking, knowledge sharing and commercial relationships established through the World Defense Show platform will spur a new era of investment and growth for Saudi Arabia’s defense and security industry, bringing us closer to achieving our target of localizing more than 50 percent of the Kingdom’s military expenditure by 2030.”
He added: “We thank all exhibitors, visitors and partners for being part of this promising journey and we look forward to bolstering ties with them in the coming period, while we prepare for the show’s second edition set to take place between 3rd and 6th of March 2024.”
The exhibition witnessed the announcement of 22 localization and capacity building agreements with a number of local and international companies specialized in military and defense industries, with a total value estimated at 8 billion riyals ($2.1 billion).
