Saudi Arabia to produce Military Equipments Internally, starts issuing Licenses to Companies

Riyadh — Saudi Government on Sunday declared that it had begun accepting license application for companies specialised in military industrial sector to produce firearms, ammunition, military explosives, military equipment, and military electronics, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Governor of General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali said, “the move would open the door for foreign and local investment in the sector to facilitate their contribution to building the sector directly, achieving the goal of localizing 50 percent of the Kingdom’s spending, and meeting the military industries sector needs. It will also be a major step towards organizing the sector.”

GAMI has developed a licensing mechanism, according to which it has specified three major kinds of licensing—military industries, providing military services, and supplying military products or services.

Investment is needed to meet reforms announced by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman who envisages Kingdom to produce or assemble half of its defense equipment locally in order to create 40,000 jobs for Saudis by 2030.

Applications for the licenses can be submitted through their official portal licensing.gami.gov.sa.