RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s defense industries are set to receive a boost following an agreement signed between Saudi Chemical Co. Holding and the National Co. for Mechanical Systems. This cooperation, formalized through a memorandum of understanding, is designed to serve and develop the sector in the Kingdom, according to a statement on Tadawul. Signed on the sidelines of the second World Defense Show in Riyadh through SCCH’s subsidiary Saudi Chemical Co., the MoU aims to enhance collaboration between the two companies in developing technologies and exchanging experiences to support Saudi Arabia’s plans to localize defense industries and enhance self-sufficiency. The statement added that the financial impact for this five-year agreement will be determined later after examining ways of cooperation, identifying joint projects as well as estimating their returns. Thamer Al-Muhid, group CEO and managing director of Saudi Chemical Co. Holding, said: “At Saudi Chemical Co. Limited, we have extensive experience in several areas, manufacturing capabilities, and advanced production lines in our military industries complex in Riyadh, and we believe that collaboration with NCMS will enable us to achieve more successes to develop this sector, and contribute to achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and making our country a regional and global center for defense industries.” In January, Saudi Chemical Co. signed a deal to establish a production facility for ammonium nitrate and nitric acid in Ras Al-Khair that involved localizing the production of raw materials necessary for manufacturing civil and military explosives to develop solutions for the defense and mining industries in Saudi Arabia. It also signed an MoU with the mining company Moxico Resources and Ajlan & Bros to supply blasting material and services to the Al-Khunayqiyah mine owned by the firm in a bid to boost the mining sector in the Kingdom through leveraging the comprehensive and superior services and products provided by the company. In December 2023, SCCH’s AJA Pharmaceuticals Industries went into a binding agreement with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories where AJA Pharma will get licensing rights for three of Dr. Reddy’s developed injection products for registration and commercialization in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.