GAMI Announces Military Spending Localization Rate Reached 27.30% in 2025

he General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) announced that the localization rate of military spending in Saudi Arabia had risen to 27.30% by the end of 2025, up from 24.89% in 2024. This marks further progress toward the Kingdom's goal of localizing more than 50% of military spending by 2030. The announcement came during the Military Industries Forum organized by GAMI in Riyadh on Sunday. The event was attended by a number of royal highnesses, excellencies, and distinguished guests, along with representatives of military and security entities, government agencies, and heads of local and international companies operating in the sector. In his address at the forum, Minister of State, Cabinet Member, and GAMI Acting Governor Bandar Alkhorayef expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Chairman of GAMI's Board of Directors, for their unwavering support for the military industries sector. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia possesses significant assets that underpin the ambitions and opportunities in the sector, enabling it to build an industrial base that meets domestic needs and demand. This base is founded on the integration of strategies for industry, localization, exports, mining, and local content, as well as leveraging Saudi Arabia's strategic geographic location linking three continents," he said. "The Kingdom also enjoys strategic political and economic relations, a strong economy, competitive energy resources, investment and industrial capabilities, and a qualified and ambitious workforce," Alkhorayef added. He stressed that these assets position the Kingdom to build a military industrial base capable of meeting domestic demand, serving the region, and supporting exports. Alkhorayef indicated that GAMI's role is to accelerate the development of the Kingdom's industrial capabilities and strengthen its position within the global military industries ecosystem. To this end, the authority has worked to develop the sector's regulatory and legislative framework, facilitate the investor journey, and coordinate closely with military and security end-user entities. It has also worked with supporting government entities and private-sector partners to strengthen and establish international partnerships. He noted that these efforts aim to boost investment and growth, facilitate technology and knowledge transfer, and enable exports. The overall results of the 2025 localization assessment for the military industries sector were then announced. The localization rate of military spending rose to 27.30%, while local content accounted for 40.91% of military spending. The sector also contributed SAR7.468 billion to gross domestic product, while its contribution to employment amounted to SAR5.243 billion. The forum witnessed the signing of four memoranda of understanding between GAMI and several Saudi banks to strengthen financing solutions for the military industries sector. The banks involved were Bank Albilad, Riyad Bank, Arab National Bank (anb), and Alinma Bank. A private-sector panel was also held to discuss growth opportunities in the military industries sector and the development of supply chains. The discussion focused on the importance of cooperation between the public and private sectors in empowering local investors, developing supply chains, and enhancing their competitiveness. These efforts support the growth of the military industries sector and its contribution to the national economy. The forum concluded with an open meeting between GAMI's acting governor and representatives of companies operating in the sector. Discussions focused on the key challenges facing investors in the military industries sector and ways to overcome obstacles and facilitate the investor journey to strengthen the sector's investment environment in Saudi Arabia. The forum also featured an accompanying exhibition with pavilions for GAMI, the World Defense Show, the Academy of Defense Industries (ADI), Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), the National Company for Mechanical Systems (NCMS), Life Shield, and BAE Systems.