RIYADH: Major players in the aviation industry are set to showcase their products and services at the Dubai Airshow that begins today.
More than 85,000 visitors are likely to attend the five-day event that brings aviation, aerospace, space, and defense industries together.
It will be attended by over 370 new exhibitors and representatives from almost 150 countries. There will be civil and military delegations from more than 140 countries and the event will feature 20 country pavilions.
Andre Martins, partner, Oliver Wyman, said: “The Dubai Airshow will be a great event to reconnect the key industry leaders. Stakeholders will be keen to understand the latest perspectives on the recovery and rebuild of the aviation industry, along with airline growth and sustainability plans, scale-up production plans from suppliers as well as innovations.”
The General Authority for Military Industries, General Authority of Civil Aviation, and the Saudi Aerospace Co. will all be in attendance at the event.
Other Saudi companies present will be Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI); Advanced Electronics Co., Saudi Arabian Airlines, OxfordSaudia Flight Academy, and GDC Middle East.
Describing GAMI’s purpose of participating in the airshow, Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali, the authority’s governor, told Arab News: “One of GAMI’s objectives has been to be the main representative of the military industries sector internationally and introduce this promising sector and the opportunities that it provides.
“During our participation in international events, several agreements and partnerships have been signed, which will be reflected in the military industries sector in the Kingdom and its national economy.”
SAMI CEO Walid Abukhaled echoed similar views, as he said: “We are looking forward to capitalizing on Dubai Airshow 2021 to further our business growth objectives and contribute to Saudi Vision 2030’s goal of localizing more than 50 percent of Saudi Arabia’s military spending by the end of the decade.”
To a question about the impact of COVID-19 on the defense industry, he said it has in the past remained largely unsusceptible to international shocks.
“But, the repercussions of COVID-19, however, posed challenges to the industry, with global supply chains coming under immense pressure in the face of lockdowns, border closures, and mobility restrictions. Nonetheless, businesses like SAMI soon reconsidered their strategies to maintain resilience and continue to deliver on their contracts and mandates,” Abukhaled said.
Commenting on the airshow, Ziad Al-Musallam, president and CEO of AEC, said: “We look forward to an excellent opportunity to showcase our engineering, manufacturing and MRO capabilities along with our solutions in C4I, cybersecurity, air operations centers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). It will also be an excellent forum to explore new opportunities for driving innovation and transfer of technology, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 goals to localize more than 50 percent of the military spending.”
Dubai Airshow 2021 took off with Saudi military companies, international big players participation
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Dubai Airshow 2021 took off with Saudi military companies, international big players participation
- Major Saudi companies participating in five-day event to showcase products, services
Arab food and beverage sector draws $22bn in foreign investment over 2 decades: Dhaman
JEDDAH: Foreign investors committed about $22 billion to the Arab region’s food and beverage sector over the past two decades, backing 516 projects that generated roughly 93,000 jobs, according to a new sectoral report.
In its third food and beverage industry study for 2025, the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corp., known as Dhaman, said the bulk of investment flowed to a handful of markets. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Morocco and Qatar attracted 421 projects — about 82 percent of the total — with capital expenditure exceeding $17 billion, or nearly four-fifths of overall investment.
Projects in those five countries accounted for around 71,000 jobs, representing 76 percent of total employment created by foreign direct investment in the sector over the 2003–2024 period, the report said, according to figures carried by the Kuwait News Agency.
“The US has been the region's top food and beverage investor over the past 22 years with 74 projects or 14 projects of the total, and Capex of approximately $4 billion or 18 percent of the total, creating more than 14,000 jobs,” KUNA reported.
Investment was also concentrated among a small group of multinational players. The sector’s top 10 foreign investors accounted for roughly 15 percent of projects, 32 percent of capital expenditure and 29 percent of newly created jobs.
Swiss food group Nestlé led in project count with 14 initiatives, while Ukrainian agribusiness firm NIBULON topped capital spending and job creation, investing $2 billion and generating around 6,000 jobs.
At the inter-Arab investment level, the report noted that 12 Arab countries invested in 108 projects, accounting for about 21 percent of total FDI projects in the sector over the past 22 years. These initiatives, carried out by 65 companies, involved $6.5 billion in capital expenditure, representing 30 percent of total FDI, and generated nearly 28,000 jobs.
The UAE led inter-Arab investments, accounting for 45 percent of total projects and 58 percent of total capital expenditure, the report added, according to KUNA.
The report also noted that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar topped the Arab ranking as the most attractive countries for investment in the sector in 2024, followed by Oman, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, and Kuwait.
Looking ahead, Dhaman expects consumer demand to continue rising. Food and non-alcoholic beverage sales across 16 Arab countries are projected to increase 8.6 percent to more than $430 billion by the end of 2025, equivalent to 4.2 percent of global sales, before exceeding $560 billion by 2029.
Sales are expected to remain highly concentrated geographically, with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, the UAE and Iraq accounting for about 77 percent of the regional total. By product category, meat and poultry are forecast to lead with sales of about $106 billion, followed by cereals, pasta and baked goods at roughly $63 billion.
Average annual per capita spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages in the region is projected to rise 7.2 percent to more than $1,845 by the end of 2025, approaching the global average, and to reach about $2,255 by 2029. Household spending on these products is expected to represent 25.8 percent of total expenditure in 13 Arab countries, above the global average of 24.2 percent.
Arab external trade in food and beverages grew more than 15 percent in 2024 to $195 billion, with exports rising 18 percent to $56 billion and imports increasing 14 percent to $139 billion. Brazil was the largest foreign supplier to the region, exporting $16.5 billion worth of products, while Saudi Arabia ranked as the top Arab exporter at $6.6 billion.
