RIYADH: Saudi nationals are to be trained to work in the military and defense industries sector following an announcement from the General Authority for Military Industries to establish a new academy. GAMI Gov. Ahmed Al-Ohali said it was an extension of the military industry sector’s strategy that was approved by the Cabinet in April last year. The National Academy of Military Industries would be the largest supporter of the sector’s strategy of backing the country’s human resources, he added. The launch ceremony was held at the academy’s headquarters in Riyadh and attended by more than 35 local and international companies and government institutions. The academys board of directors was formed at the event and the establishment license was handed over to the academys chairman Walid Abu Khalid and other founding partners. Al-Ohali said the authority was committed to supporting national personnel and that the Kingdoms military industries sector had witnessed qualitative leaps during the past five years. He praised the special care, interest, and support that the military and defense industries sector received from the government of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to embody the ambitious vision toward enhancing the strategic independence of Saudi Arabia and building a local and sustainable military industries sector. The Saudi Arabian Military Industries CEO and academy chairman Abu Khalid said the new institution was considered a strategic tool to ensure the success of the supply chain project in the military industries sector through developing and refining peoples knowledge and capabilities in specialist technological, engineering, and scientific fields and specialists concerned with the military, defense, and security industries. He stressed that developing, rehabilitating, and enabling national personnel, creating innovative and new industries and technologies, enhancing the strategic independence of Saudi Arabia, and seeking to localize this promising sector were all considered strategic goals that supported realizing the sector’s targets of localizing more than 50 percent of military expenditure by 2030.