THE DEFENSE & SECURITY COMMITTEE IS SPONSORED BY:

Profile: The United States is Saudi Arabia’s second largest trading partner and the defense sector plays a significant role in that successful bilateral U.S. - Saudi Arabia trade relationship. With a deep-rooted history that has built strong economic ties,  Saudi Arabia is the United States’ largest foreign military sales (FMS) customer, accounting for more than $125B in active FMS cases.  Through FMS, the United States has supported three key security assistance organizations in Saudi Arabia: the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard, and the Ministry of Interior.  

The American Chamber of Commerce’s Defense & Security Committee actively participates in the exchange of information concerning the Saudi Arabian market amongst the U.S. defense, aerospace, and security industries. The Committee aims to identify opportunities and challenges that can enhance the Saudi defense and security markets and their abilities to work effectively with the U.S. and Saudi governments through regular meetings, closed-door round tables and key leader engagements. 

Mission: Drive strategic dialogue in the defense and security sector by identifying key issues and leveraging the knowledge and experience of its military, government, and industry members, and promote closer association and cooperation among the US and KSA defense and security industries present in the Kingdom.

Strategic Priorities:

• Committee:

  • Community Platform: Act as a forum and a clearing-house for sector- specific information and promote dialogue between our members and our industry and government counterparts

  • Key Leader Engagement: Engage key stakeholders in KSA and the US on policies, strategies, laws and regulations for the defense sector

  • Advocacy for the Defense Industrial Base: Foster close cooperation with the US Chamber and the Embassy on bilateral initiatives, support door knocks in Riyadh and Washington, participate in objective studies and analyses

• Intra-Committee:

  • Enhance collaboration with the Embassy Country Team and Security Cooperation personnel

  • Explore opportunities with other committees to target KSA’s strategic V2030 themes (Ex: AI/ML, WIB).

Programming:

• Host closed-door roundtables (monthly)

• Host events with visiting delegations (as required)

• Co-host events at regional tradeshows (Ex: IDEX, ISOA)

Who Should Join?

The AmCham Defense & Security Committee is open to all AmCham members and others in the community who want to promote a vibrant sector with new partnerships in Saudi Arabia. 

Defense & Security companies are encouraged to actively engage in committee programming. 

For additional membership information, or if you are interested to participate in the Defense and Security Committee, please contact: Nomaan.Syed@leidos.com

Committee Leadership:

Interested in sponsoring the Defense & Security Committee?