Saudi Arabian Military Industries and Paramount Group sign high-level collaboration agreement on defence and security

Riyadh: Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Paramount Group, the global aerospace and technology company, announced the signing of a high-level defence collaboration agreement, in step with Saudi Arabia’s vision for the creation of an integrated defence industrial ecosystem.

The multiple collaboration agreement between SAMI and Paramount Group will see the development of technologies and capabilities across the land, sea and air domains, as well as system integration, in support of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s economic development plan, which sets an ambitious objective to increase the domestic share of military equipment expenditure to 50% by 2030.

CEO of SAMI, Dr. Andreas Schwer, said: “The collaboration between SAMI and Paramount Group will play a large part in helping to achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. This will contribute significantly to further enhancing the capability of Saudi Armed Forces and increasing local content, in addition to creating new job opportunities and training for Saudi youth to increase their contribution and raise their role in this vital industry and the national economy in general.

He added: “Paramount Group has an established track record of working in partnership with customer countries, helping to create local defence industrial capabilities through technology and skills transfer. We believe there are many synergies between our companies that can be leveraged to build the defence industrial capability that Saudi requires.”

Group Chairman of Paramount Group, Ivor Ichikowitz, said: “Saudi Arabia is important to Paramount Group as much of the technology that we have created over the years has been developed with the Middle East in mind. We share the vision of the Crown Prince and his economic development plan. We are sensitive to the requirements of our customers to establish strategic industrial capability and put a strong focus on assisting governments in creating domestic manufacturing capacity.”

Ichikowitz continued: “Paramount Group has, for many years, been a world leader in the development of technology for asymmetrical conflict, primarily from our experience we had in Africa. Both the technology and expertise now have huge relevance to the security realities facing the Middle East. We have also invested very heavily in developing some of the most modern land forces, aviation, and naval platforms in the world. These platforms have allowed us to compete amongst the best in the world for both developed markets, as well as emerging markets.”

Ichikowitz added: “Paramount Group’s portable manufacturing model has been successfully implemented in a number of countries around the world. Over the years, we have refined this model, which is now perfectly aligned with the declared intent of Saudi Arabia. Where many organisations are still learning this approach, Paramount Group has been implementing projects on this basis for many years and is a viable major partner even in the most sophisticated markets.”

Vision 2030 also points out that existing Saudi defence companies have tended to focus on less complex processes such as supplying spare parts and manufacturing basic ammunition. Vision 2030 envisages the domestic manufacture of much more complex, higher-value military equipment, such as aircraft, supported by the development of an integrated national network of services and industries.

SAMI was created to lead this restructuring of Saudi Arabia’s military manufacturing capability which is expected to contribute SR14bn ($3.7bn) to the country’s GDP by 2030, create over 40,000 jobs for Saudi engineers and technicians, and invest SR6bn ($1.6bn) in research and development.

About Paramount Group 

Paramount Group is the African-based global aerospace and technology company. It is a leader in innovation and a trusted partner to sovereign governments across the globe. Paramount Group has been responsible for the development and production of a broad range of highly advanced armored and mine protected vehicles that are in operation around the world. The family of APC and combat vehicles which has been developed from clean-sheet design is at the vanguard of armored vehicle technologies. These vehicles have been designed and developed to meet the increasing demand for multi-role, high mobility, and mine hardened platforms around the world. Please visit www.paramountgroup.com for more information and follow us on Twitter.

About Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI):

Launched in May 2017, Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) is a state-owned ‎military industries company working under the directives outlined in the ‎Saudi Vision 2030. Aiming to be among the top 25 military industries companies in the ‎world by 2030, SAMI is expected to play a key role in localizing 50% of the Kingdom’s ‎total government military spending.

SAMI is combining the latest technologies and the best national talents to develop ‎military products and services at par with international standards across four business ‎divisions – Aeronautics, Land Systems, Weapons and Missiles, and Defense Electronics. ‎The company is also focused on increasing exports and bringing foreign investment to ‎the Kingdom’s military industries sector.

For more information, visit www.sami.com.sa or e-mail us at info@sami.com.sa 

© Press Release 2019