RIYADH — The Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Fayyad Bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili met here Wednesday with the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) Governor Eng. Ahmed Al-Ohali on the sidelines of the World Defense Show.

During the meeting, the achievement of the show was commended, which comes within the direct interest of the wise leadership and the concerted efforts of all parties in the country.

It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Defense is a major partner in the International Defense Exhibition.

Meanwhile, GAMI announced signing with three local manufacturers and two global laboratories accredited in Saudi Arabia, targeting unified products of attire in all military and security apparatuses on the sidelines of the World Defense Show.

This is part of a series of framework agreements that GAMI seeks to implement during the next period in a bid to realize its main goal of localizing more than 50% of Saudi Arabia’s expenditure on military equipment and services by 2030.

The framework agreement seeks to facilitate the access of services to beneficiaries as soon as possible through enabling and stimulating local manufacturers, increasing the quality and rehabilitation of military attire to reach the highest standards and levels in production and performance.

It also seeks to rehabilitate the quality of local laboratories to work according to international standards through providing the services of check-up, tests and calibration for all unified products of military attire and issuing certificates of conformity.

Lt. Gen. Al-Ruwaili, visited the Ministry of Defense pavilion, the UAE pavilion, and the pavilions of government agencies and private sector institutions participating in the World Defense Show.

Lt. Gen. Al-Ruwaili toured a number of local and international pavilions participating in the exhibition, listening to a brief explanation of the electronic services provided by the authorities, initiatives, programs and platforms specialized in the defense, military and security industries .

He also was told about their efforts to enable digital solutions, emerging technologies and information security, and the latest developments in the services maintenance, manufacturing and training, along with the latest equipment and systems that will be presented to hundreds of local and international manufacturers.

At the end of the visit, he confirmed that the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the Supreme Commander of all military forces and the inauguration of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy prime minister and minister of defense to the show, highlight the Kingdom’s keenness in the military industries.

This provided us with opportunities to review the latest global technical developments in the fields of defense and security with the aim of enabling defense and security institutions to keep pace with defense developments and technical solutions, in line with the goals set for Vision 2030. — SPA