Riyadh - Mubasher: Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef called on Airbus Helicopters and its network of suppliers to expand cooperation with the Kingdom, in order to achieve the shared vision of building a sustainable and competitive aviation system.

This came during his inauguration, yesterday, Monday, of the "Industrial Day" event held at the Airbus Helicopters headquarters in the French city of Marignane. The event brings together Airbus suppliers and Saudi aviation companies to explore opportunities for cooperation in the aviation industry and strengthen investment partnerships between the two sides.

Al-Khorayef stressed, according to a statement from the ministry, during his opening remarks that the aviation industry is one of the most prominent advanced industrial sectors, the national industrial strategy is focusing on localizing and developing it, to diversify the national economy in line with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

Al-Kharif pointed out in his remarks that building qualitative capabilities for the aviation industry is achieved through several key factors, including localizing advanced technologies, empowering the private sector, strengthening international partnerships, attracting promising investments, and leveraging the Kingdom's strategic assets, including its geographic location, competitive energy prices, rich mineral resources, and young talent, to transform the Kingdom into a global hub for the aviation industry.

The Kingdom has identified several sub-sectors within the aviation industry that offer unique investment opportunities valued at 10 billion riyals. These sectors include aircraft structure maintenance, aircraft component repair, and drone manufacturing.

The Kingdom seeks to double its industrial GDP from $88 billion to $377 billion by 2035, according to the National Industrial Strategy, which places advanced manufacturing, including the aviation sector, at the core of its industrial transformation.

The Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources' inauguration of the "Industrial Day" event comes during his current official visit to France, which aims to enhance industrial and mining cooperation and explore joint investment opportunities in promising industrial sectors, most notably aviation and food.