The Saudi General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) announced that it has licensed 18 more companies to engage in the Saudi military industries sector, bringing the total to 38.
GAMI aims to localize more than 50 percent of the Kingdom’s spending on military equipment and services, and has developed a special platform to receive requests for issuing licenses in the areas of military manufacturing, military service provision, and supply of military products or services.
The platform will enable local manufacturers to develop military industries, research, and security technology in Saudi Arabia.
The 18 new companies were able to obtain their licenses through the e-portal developed by the Authority without the need to visit the headquarters, in line with the preventive and precautionary measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the Kingdom.
Deputy governor for industry development at GAMI Gasem al-Maimani asserted the Authority’s keenness to enable and support companies of this sector despite the COVID-19 disease.
The Authority has so far granted licenses to 38 national firms operating in military industry with an expected investment volume of $2.5 billion, Maimani announced.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Local Content and Government Procurement Authority revealed it reviewed about 5,000 documents since the announcement of the new government competition and procurement system.
The Authority is ensuring the applications include the requirements aiming to develop local content at the level of the national economy.
On Wednesday, the CEO of the Authority, Abdulrahman al-Samari, held a virtual meeting at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) to introduce the role and functions of the Authority.
Samari pointed out that the Authority focuses on developing local content with all its components at the level of the national economy, and improving government procurement in line with Vision 2030 goals.
He indicated that this will help achieve self-sufficiency in a number of vital sectors and improve the GDP.
On the Authority’s role in supporting the private sector, the CEO reviewed the list of national products and their contribution in local factories and directing government needs towards them. He explained that this has been done through a mandatory list for the building and construction sectors, as well as medicines and medical supplies.
The first copies of the lists included 237 products, noting that contractors must purchase from national manufacturers and provide evidence.
He stressed that the list will contribute to increasing investment opportunities for the private sector and support national industries.
Samari also noted that the Authority trained 1,500 government procurement employees and held 60 training workshops over the past period.
In addition, the Authority's Executive Director, Mohammad al-Olayan, explained that the Authority reviewed documents of government agencies over four stages to ensure agencies and their contractors adhere to the requirements of local content.
Concerning exemptions from the mandatory list of national products, Olayan stressed that the authority issued a document detailing the mechanisms for exclusion from the list, and follows up on all cases of exception granted by state agencies.
