Boosting the Saudi defense sector, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment (MISA) and the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the pioneering Italian defense group Elettronica in September 2024.
Saudi Arabia seeks to increase the contribution of foreign direct investment to the kingdom’s GDP to 5.7%. And the Saudi-Italian memorandum aims to increase the Saudi private sector’s contribution to Saudi GDP to 65%. Saudi Arabia has set a goal of producing half of the country’s defense procurement domestically by 2030.
The signing of this memorandum took place during MISA participation in the 50th edition of the Ambrosetti Forum in September 2024. It is an annual international economic conference held in the Italian town of Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como.
At the forum, MISA representatives presented investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia, highlighting incentives the kingdom offers foreign defense contractors.
Saudi leadership views partnership with Italy as indispensable for global security and thus has been working diligently to solidify the bilateral relationships at all levels. To this end, Saudi and Italian officials exchanged visits to intertwine efforts at promoting military capabilities.
In October 2023, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto visited Riyadh and met with Saudi Minister of Defense His Royal Highness Prince Khaled bin Salman. The two officials discussed an Italian offer to build a warship armed with aerial and naval unmanned systems.
In turn, Saudi Assistant Defense Minister Talal bin Abdullah bin Turki al-Otaibi visited Italy in May 2024. He met with representatives from top Italian defense firms specializing in the maritime industry and discussed cooperation regarding technology and systems sought from those firms to enhance Royal Saudi Naval Forces’ capabilities.
In late May 2024, Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri SPA announced a new Saudi Arabian subsidiary dubbed Fincantieri Arabia. Focusing on the maritime industry, Fincantieri Arabia aims to create jobs for Saudi nationals as part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 diversification plans.
Sources: alarabiya.net, fincantieri.com, tacticalreport.com