The sessions of the Budget 2023 Forum, being organized by the Ministry of Finance, convened its second-day sessions Monday at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) with a dialogue session entitled "The National Industry and its Role in Facing Risks", with the participation of public and private sector senior officials. General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) Governor Eng. Ahmed Al-Ohali, Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Eng. Osama Al-Zamil, Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) CEO Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mojel, and Saudi Company for Military Industries (SAMI) CEO Eng. Walid Abukhaled participated in the session. Al-Ohali stressed that the military industries sector is witnessing rapid growth and qualitative movement inside the Kingdom, as the number of establishments when the authority was established did not exceed five national facilities. Today, the number of establishments reached more than 265 licenses by the end of November 2022, and the total number of establishments reached 156 establishments worth an estimated investment volume of SR40 billion, employing 21,000 employees, including Saudis. He indicated that the total requests and contracts received by the authority since its inception until the end of November 2022 amounted to more than 400 requests from the ministries of "Defense, Interior, State Security, Royal Guard, National Guard, and General Intelligence", with a total value of SR74,065,389,626. Also the total number of applications and contracts submitted to the Authority since it was established amounted to 318, with a total value of SR56,971,162,364. Al-Ohali noted that the number of programs received by GAMI since its inception until November 2022 amounted to 53 programs with a total value of SR3,610,884,409, while the number of programs submitted to GAMI reached 24 programs with a value of SR2,297,196,246. He added that the number of contracts and armament projects that have been studied since the establishment of GAMI to date amounted to 327 projects, and the percentage of potential savings on the total projects is estimated (after floating by 3.46% with a total amount of SR1.8 billion). Eng. Al-Zamil said that the industrial sector is one of the largest sectors that contribute to economic development in the Kingdom, and in 2023 there will be a strong start to activate the national strategy for the industry, which aims to triple the industrial GDP to reach SR895 billion, and also doubling the value of industrial exports to reach SR557 billion. Eng. Al-Zamil indicated that the value of investments in the industrial sector amounted to SR1.3 trillion, noting that the national strategy for the industry included announcing the offering of more than 800 investment opportunities worth SR1 trillion, in addition to increasing exports of advanced technical products by about 6 times and creating tens of thousands of qualitative jobs. He explained that the number of factories before the Kingdom's Vision 2030 amounted to 7,000 factories, and after the launch of the vision, the number reached more than 10,000 factories, and noted that this year the ministry issued 803 industrial licenses and 566 mining licenses, and production started in 539 factories with investments amounting to SR26.7 billion. He added that the sector has succeeded in attracting investments worth more than SR21.8 billion, and the number of manpower in the industrial sector has doubled by employing 47,125 workers, with a localization rate of more than 42%. Dr. Al-Mojel, stressed that with the launch of the national strategy for the industry, the focus was directed on strategic projects of high value that lead to local production and exports and raise the competitiveness of existing factories, adding that the Fund approved loans for the electric car factories "Lucid" and "Ceer", exceeding SR11 billion. This, he said, is in addition to the renewable energy, including the blue hydrogen project in Jubail, and green hydrogen in NEOM, which is the largest in the world of its kind, as we all as launching the "Competitiveness" and the "Tawteen" programs, which support supply chains and raise production efficiency and capacity. Eng. Abukhaled said the military industries and their localization represent an integral part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and are the most important indicators of the success of the independent military industries. He added that all international companies see the Saudi market as a stimulating market and seek to have a role in acquiring or selling military systems and to have a role in localizing industries in the Kingdom. He stressed that the company's approach is based on GAMI's vision, noting that the unmanned systems represent the future of military industries such as drones, unmanned vehicles, and boats without captains, stressing that these technologies are being processed. Eng. Abukhaled said that the start of (SAMI) operations was in January 2018 after the recruitment of the first CEO, and during the past five years SAMI has established a partnership with 12 international companies, which rank among the top 20 companies globally. He noted that the results of work during the past five years have contributed to placing SAMI among the 100 largest defense companies worldwide, and aspires to advance to be among the 25 largest companies by 2030. — SPA
