On Monday, May 23rd, 2022, the U.S.-Saudi Business Council (USSBC) hosted H.E. Dr. Samir Al Tubayyeb, CEO of the Transformation Management Office at the Saudi Ministry of Defense, for a breakfast briefing with representatives from the Saudi Embassy and U.S. Department of Defense along with high-level representatives from the U.S.’s leading defense and aerospace companies.
Following opening remarks by USSBC President & CEO H. Delano Roosevelt, H.E. Dr. Al Tubayyeb began his presentation on the widespread transformation taking place within the Ministry of Defense. In the presentation, H.E. Dr. Al Tubayyeb gave an overview on his office’s responsibilities and mandates, discussed how the military industrial base is changing in Saudi Arabia and the military industry’s emerging new ecosystem, provided clarity for vendors on how to work with the Ministry of Defense in the future, and solicited support from the private sector representatives in attendance.
H.E. Dr. Al Tubayyeb also highlighted the key contributors in the Saudi defense ecosystem, which are the Deputy Ministry for Armament & Procurement (A&P), the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), and the newly-created General Authority for Defense Development (GADD).
Among other topics, His Excellency discussed that vendors will always be able to have technical discussions with Saudi military forces, although issues related to acquisitions (such as vendor registration, vendor qualification, tendering, vendor selection, etc.) will be the responsibility of the Deputy Ministry for A&P. H.E. Dr. Al Tubayyeb highlighted that the Saudi military forces will be internally involved for capability planning, needs identification, and requirement specification through a dedicated governance structure and a centralized procurement process. Vendors will now deal directly with the Deputy Ministry for A&P.
Following the presentation, Mr. Roosevelt moderated a question and answer session in which attendees were able to discuss topics of interest with H.E. Dr. Al Tubayyeb.
If you are a U.S. aerospace or defense company, or another company that supplies those industries, please feel free to contact Mike Ryan, Business Development Manager, at mryan@ussaudi.org to see how we can help you learn more about doing business in Saudi Arabia or get involved with the Ministry of Defense’s procurement process.
