Riyadh, February 20, 2023 – Led and organized by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), and continuing its global outreach following an active 2022, the KSA Pavilion at IDEX 2023 was inaugurated today by GAMI Governor, H.E. Ahmad Al-Ohali. On the opening day of the 5-day event taking place in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, the Kingdom’s defense regulator highlighted billions of dollars’ worth of investment opportunities, and welcomed investors from all over the world to learn more about the Kingdom’s aspirational localization journey.

 

GAMI, Saudi Arabia’s defense regulator, enabler, and licensor, aims to showcase its investment programs and initiatives to promote investment in the sector, as the Kingdom marches towards realizing its goal of localizing more than 50% of defense expenditure by the year 2030. The KSA Pavilion boasts a strong presence from the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the Saudi Ministry of Investment, World Defense Show (WDS), and 14 private sector defense companies, namely: Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), Al Esnad, Middle East Propulsion Company (MEPC), Life Shield Group, Zahid Group, Scopa Industries Corp. LLC, Saudi Specialized Products Company (Wahaj) Saudi Chemical, GDC Middle East, Shamal Group, Alkhorayef Group, Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI), Equipment Corner Co. Ltd., Zamil Offshore Services Company. Via its 3,142 Square Meter Pavilion, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks to attract and enable investment into the Kingdom’s defense sector.

 

Leading the Saudi delegation, H.E. Al-Ohali observed the latest in national defense capabilities on display at the Pavilion, which in turn will stimulate the discourse on investment opportunities to be explored and partnerships to be forged, particularly with a number of key agreements planned to be signed.

 

“We are delighted to be present at IDEX 2023 to showcase our initiatives and our sector’s capabilities to the global defense community, and to empower meaningful and strategic engagement between our KSA Pavilion partners amongst key public and private sector entities, and our valued stakeholders and investors from all over the world,” said H.E. Ahmad Al-Ohali, Governor of GAMI. “We have achieved a localization rate of 11.7% in 2022, up from just 2% in 2018. Strategic partnerships with global investors have been a key component of this success, and IDEX 2023 is a great opportunity for us to meet industry leaders who are keen to join us along our journey of localizing more than 50% of our defense expenditure by the year 2030.” 

 

GAMI continues to contribute to the Kingdom’s economic diversification efforts under the guidance of Saudi Vision 2030, with various strategic undertakings such as the supply chain localization program and the Military Industry Human Capital Strategy offering investment opportunities worth billions of dollars, and ranging from manufacturing to education.

 

The Kingdom hosted the inaugural World Defense Show (WDS) in Riyadh in 2022, welcoming more than 65,000 visits including policy makers, investors, executives, and students and generating $7.9 billion in deals. The second edition of World Defense Show will take place in Riyadh from February 4 – 8, 2024.