Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Athel has been the deputy governor of the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) since May 2019.
He was the secretary-general of the GAMI board of directors from November 2017 to October 2018 and was secretary-general and a member of the armaments contracts review committee at the Saudi Ministry of Defense, in Riyadh, between 2017 and 2019.
For more than four years, Al-Athel worked as a project director at both Saudi Arabian Military Industries and the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund.
He has also been a board member at several institutions in Bahrain including Malath Cooperative Insurance Co., the Filing and Packing Materials Manufacturing Co., and Venture Capital Bank.
Al-Athel obtained a bachelor’s degree in finance from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, in Dhahran, and a master’s degree from Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada.
On Monday, GAMI confirmed that the Kingdom will increase support for scientific research from its military budget to 4 percent during the next 10 years, in order to convey technology, weapons industry and military industries in general.
Talking to Arab News, Al-Athel said that the Kingdom had the world’s third-largest budget allocated to weapons, after the US and China, and was the largest importer of arms.
Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Athel, deputy governor of the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries
Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Athel, deputy governor of the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries
Saudi chef wins culinary competition
- Event aimed to empower chefs’ ability to showcase talent on global scale
- Bayan Abdullah Al-Sudani: It (has) encouraged me to participate in more challenging spaces
RIYADH: A Saudi has won the Saudi Elite Chefs competition at Horeca Riyadh.
The event, which was organized by the Culinary Arts Commission of the Ministry of Culture, in alignment with the ministry’s long-term goals, aimed to empower Saudi chefs’ ability to showcase their talent and creativity on a global scale.
Speaking to Arab News, the winner, Bayan Abdullah Al-Sudani, shed light on how the competition equipped her with confidence for the future, saying: “It was a big challenge, and I faced off against strong chefs. It (has) encouraged me to participate in more challenging spaces.”
On her future plans, Al-Sudani wants to give back to the industry, and added: “I look forward to opening the Bayan Academy soon so that I can support chefs and help them with the pastry sector specifically.”
Celebration and achievement were echoed throughout, and it was evident at the event that the culinary industry in the Kingdom is hungry for growth, recognition, and global competition.
Seba Zarea, general manager of strategy and program delivery at the Culinary Arts Commission, told Arab News of the many facets of the industry that the ministry was prioritizing.
Zarea said: “This competition is just one of the initiatives that the Culinary Arts Commission is working on. There are also local scholarships (and) vocational training. We are also working on attracting the best culinary schools to Saudi. For example, Le Cordon Bleu is opening next year in Misk City.”
Zarea stressed the rewards of events like the Saudi Elite Chefs competition, adding that the winner had a fast track to Bocuse d’Or and the World Pastry Cup — representing global opportunities to place both competitors and Saudi cuisine on the map.
Zarea added: “Food is a soft power and, in terms of tourism, food is a universal language so we codified the Saudi cuisine, an initiative started four years ago, and we came up with more than 1,300 codified recipes, items, and local produce from the Kingdom.”
Zarea went into depth on some of the behind-the-scenes efforts that have helped create the food that the Kingdom is able to showcase.
She shared the example of the Wild Plant Initiative, a program designed to explore plants of various regions in the Kingdom to discover new ingredients that can be integrated into Saudi cuisine.
These efforts go into helping to build an industry that is rooted in culture, creativity, and passion.
In the same way that the Saudi Elite Chefs competition provides its winners and participants with the tools to bring their success to global attention, the Culinary Arts Commission works to elevate the Kingdom’s cuisine through tourism and hospitality.
Zarea said: “This sector is the easiest way to showcase the culture.”
