Friday, July 13, 2018

Riyadh seeks partners for local defense manufacturing



Recent years have seen Saudi Arabia surrounded by conflict and unrest.

To the north, Iraq and Syria have descended into armed conflict, giving birth to insurgent-administered enclaves; to the south, civil war in Yemen has triggered the greatest humanitarian crisis on the Arabian Peninsula; to the west, piracy has disrupted Saudi trade and armed conflict has divided the Sudan; and, to the east, lies Iran.

In this context, Riyadh has sought to build its military as a key deterrent against the growing threats to its national security, and allocated more than $55bn to defense spending in 2018 alone.

The Saudi government has also begun partnering with the world’s leading defense contractors with the aim of incubating an indigenous defense manufacturing sector.

My article, published this week by Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), highlights opportunities for investment in Saudi Arabia’s thriving defense sector. Read an abbreviated version at https://www.meed.com/saudi-arabia-defence-contractors-local-manufacturing, or download the full article at https://www.meed.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Defense-Contracting-in-Saudi-Arabia-by-John-Balouziyeh.pdf.