Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), the state-owned defense company, has signed on Sunday a preliminary agreement with France's Naval Group on the creation of a joint venture for construction of warships in the kingdom
ABU DHABI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2019) Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), the state-owned defense company, has signed on Sunday a preliminary agreement with France's Naval Group on the creation of a joint venture for construction of warships in the kingdom.
The signing ceremony of the agreement, which provides for the construction of warships, frigates and corvettes, was held on the sidelines of the IDEX-2019 defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi.
"The joint venture will design, build and maintain military ships, which will make a significant contribution to the further expansion of the capabilities and combat readiness of the Royal Saudi Navy," SAMI CEO Andreas Schwer said, commenting on the deal.
Schwer noted that SAMI would be the majority shareholder in the joint venture.
SAMI was established in 2017 to develop the Saudi military industry, and aims to produce domestically half of the weapons needed by the kingdom by 2030, according to the kingdom's economic development plan initiated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
After the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a number of EU countries stopped exporting weapons to the kingdom, considering the country's leadership to be behind this crime. In addition, the US Senate voted in December to quit military support for Saudi Arabia in the war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
