MARIGNANE — Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef inaugurated the "Industrial Day" event held at the Airbus Helicopters headquarters in Marignane, France. The event brings together Airbus suppliers and Saudi aviation companies to explore cooperation opportunities in the aviation industry and strengthen investment partnerships between the two sides. AlKhorayef emphasized that the aviation industry is one of the most prominent advanced industrial sectors, the national industrial strategy is focusing on localizing and developing, to diversify the national economy in line with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia's ambitions to accelerate the localization of the aviation sector, empower private sector, strengthen international partnerships, attract promising investments, leverage Saudi Arabia's strategic assets, including its geographic location, competitive energy prices, rich mineral resources, and young talent, were all discussed at the meeting. AlKhorayef called on Airbus Helicopters and its network of suppliers to expand cooperation with Saudi Arabia, achieving the shared vision of building a sustainable and competitive aviation system. Saudi Arabia has identified several sub-sectors within the aviation industry that offer unique investment opportunities valued at $2.67 billion. These sectors include aircraft structure maintenance, aircraft component repair, and drone manufacturing. The Kingdom seeks to double its industrial GDP from $88 billion to $377 billion by 2035, in accordance with the National Industrial Strategy, which places advanced manufacturing, including the aviation sector, at the core of its industrial transformation. The Saudi minister's inauguration of the "Industrial Day" event comes during his current official visit to France, which aims to enhance industrial and mining cooperation and explore joint investment opportunities in promising industrial sectors, most notably aviation and food. Saudi Arabia and France cooperate in a number of sectors, such as energy, water and waste management, sustainable cities, transportation, civil aviation, mobility solutions, the digital economy, and health.
