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LONDON: ��������’s leading defense organizations are this week taking part in Defense and Security Equipment International in London, an arms fair that brings together global leaders from the security and military industries.

The General Authority for Military Industries is supporting the pavilion at the event, which includes entities such as ��������n Military Industries, Saudi Chemical Co. Ltd., Saudi Co. GDC Middle East and the World Defense Show.

�������� is currently undergoing significant changes to its defense sector. As part of Vision 2030, it plans to become a global manufacturing and technology hub and localize more than half of its military spending.

Although the Kingdom is one of the world’s major arms importers — sourcing nearly 74 percent of its weapons from the US, with the rest coming from Spain, the UK and France — its spending on foreign weapons fell by almost 41 percent between 2020 and 2024, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The drop was due to temporary delays in deliveries, resulting from the gap between using and replacing weapons, the institute said.

In May, the US and �������� signed a $142 billion arms deal, which the White House described as the largest defense sales agreement in history.

�������� wants to position itself as a kind of core around innovation. So the show’s theme really is about positioning the Saudi defense industry as a hub for innovation

Andrew Pearcey, CEO

The third edition of the World Defense Show will be held in Riyadh in February. More than 80 countries and 925 exhibitors are expected to take part in the event, whose theme is “The Future of Defense Integration.”

WDS CEO Andrew Pearcey said: “The future of defense integration is really mirroring what’s going on in the industry, which is this move to the seamless integration between all of the (military) domains.

“�������� wants to position itself as a kind of core around innovation. So the show’s theme really is about positioning the Saudi defense industry as a hub for innovation.”

One of the features of the show will be the “Future Defense Lab,” which showcases how innovative integration across air, land, sea, space and security can create new commercial and collaborative opportunities.

Others include the “Naval Zone,” which focuses on maritime technology, assets and crafts, and the “Unmanned Systems Zone,” which Pearcey described as one of the highlights.

“We are in the desert and that’s great,” he told Arab News. “We’ve got the area to demonstrate unmanned vehicles and bring in all the latest unmanned technology, (including) robotics in one area and showcase it … in the air or on the ground.”

Since its creation in 2022, the WDS has supported many Saudi small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in the military and security sectors.

We created an area called the ‘Saudi supply chain’, which aims to bring Saudi companies, authorities and international arms manufacturers to work together to try to localize the 50 percent of spending by 2030

Mansour Al-Babtain, VP Commercial Partnerships

Mansour Al-Babtain, vice president for commercial partnerships and liaison, told Arab News that next year’s event aimed to, “put �������� in a position of one of those big countries in the defense sector.”

“We created an area called the Saudi supply chain, which (aims) to bring Saudi companies, authorities and international (arms manufacturers) to work together to try to localize the 50 percent (spending) by 2030,” he said.

The former Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilot said the WDS had, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and 80 colleges and universities, set up the “Future Talent Program” to support the next generation of Saudi defense professionals.

On the aim of February’s show, he said: “Our target is not only to bring exhibitors (to the WDS), but also to bring investors to our country. We are holding an investor program … to encourage international and local investors to be a part of the (Saudi defense) sector.”

The show would also include a “Meet the KSA” feature that would enable investors to meet government authorities who could explain “how the ecosystem works,” he said.

Ahmad Al-Ohali, the governor of GAMI, on Tuesday launched the Saudi pavilion at the London exhibition in the presence of representatives from the country’s military and diplomatic core. It showcases key products and the industrial capabilities �������� will use to enhance its defense sector.

GAMI, which is the Kingdom’s military regulator, was established in 2017 and formed the WDS as part of a broader strategy to support national security and promote sustainable economic development.

BRUSSELS: The UN’s migration agency is appealing for funds for around 134,000 people who need help in Afghanistan, nearly two weeks after an earthquake killed more than 2,200 people in the country’s mountainous east.
Many of the quake-hit Afghans are homeless, sleeping in the open and desperate to return and rebuild. Aid organizations are struggling to get tents and other assistance up the mountains and winter weather is expected in the coming weeks.
“We don’t want to create a camp” for the displaced, the International Organization for Migration’s Chief of Mission in Afghanistan Mihyung Park told The Associated Press.
“Those who are displaced … they’re living in a makeshift type of situation,” Park said in Brussels, after holding talks with European Union officials.
“We are trying to provide our assistance as close we can” to their current location, she added.
The deadly magnitude 6.0 quake on Aug. 31 and aftershocks that followed also injured more than 3,600 people, Afghan authorities have said. Many hard-hit areas are tough to get to, with some only reachable by helicopter. The IOM said that more than 7,000 homes were destroyed. Nearly half a million people have been affected in all.
In the 80 out of 400 hardest hit villages where the UN carried out damage assessments, “more than 6,000 homes were destroyed and over 1,300 others damaged,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
The UN and its partners have reached at least 60,000 quake survivors with food, and 30,000 have been provided with safe drinking water, he said, adding that malnourished children and pregnant and breastfeeding women have also received specialized nutrition aid.
But the UN spokesman said far more resources are needed, stressing the UN’s appeal for $139 million to help 457,000 people over the next four months.
Afghanistan was already facing multiple crises, including the return of more than 1.7 million Afghans from Iran and Pakistan in 2025, large-scale internal displacement and severe economic hardship.
Park said Afghans rely heavily on EU assistance, particularly since the United States stopped sending funds after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops pulled out of the country, ending America’s longest war.
That support is even more important as Western countries cut development and humanitarian aid budgets to spend more on their defense, leaving less money for disaster and other support.
“There are many crises in the world,” Park said. Speaking of Afghanistan, she added that IOM is “very afraid that it’s being forgotten.”
The plight of Afghan women is of particular concern. Since the Taliban seized power, they have imposed their interpretation of Islamic law on daily life, including sweeping restrictions on women and girls.
The UN’s Dujarric said Thursday that the Taliban have restricted Afghan women working for the UN and its contractors from entering UN premises in Kabul and other offices across the country – stationing security forces outside to prevent entry.
The restrictions disregard previous arrangements between the UN and the Taliban, Dujarric said, and the UN has responded by implementing adjustments to protect staff and is assessing “viable options for continuing their principled and essential work.”