PARIS — The Saudi Military Industries Company (SAMI) signed on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ST Engineering, a Singapore-based global technology, defense and engineering group, to identify and explore business opportunities in Saudi Arabia to collaborate in the sectors of the systems of land, aviation, marine, electronics, weapons and ammunition as well as future systems. Andreas Schweer, CEO of SAMI, said that the signing of MoU with ST Engineering is part of SAMI's strong commitment to building and strengthening industrial partnerships to boost the momentum of Saudi Arabia's transformation towards localization of half of its military spending as well as to increase the local production in the defense sector. "We are keen on increasing exports and attracting foreign direct investments as targeted in the Vision 2030. We are desirous to take advantage of the expertise and capabilities of ST Engineering Group so as to contribute to our overall goal of establishing a sustainable military industry sector in the Kingdom," he said. On his part, Vincent Chong, CEO of ST Engineering, said that his group is delighted to have signed a MoU with SAMI, which enhances the efforts of the two companies to explore ways of working together to help modernize and strengthen Saudi Arabia's defense capabilities. "We are confident that we will be able to identify areas where ST Engineering can provide strong and valuable support to our customers," he said. ST Engineering is specialized in the aerospace, electronics, land systems and marine sectors. The MoU, which was signed on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, provides for the Terrex 2 (8 x 8) wheeled armored platform for Saudi Royal Land Forces, the development of the new generation of the Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the prospect of cooperation to develop maintenance and repair capabilities for commercial and military customers, as well as studying the scope of participation in the promotion and development of new C130 aircraft, and assisting in the modernization of the Saudi electronics industry.
