Interview with Advanced Electronics Company (AEC)

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Interview with Eng. Ziad Al-Musallam, President and CEO - Advanced Electronics Company (AEC) 
 

• What are you expecting from Dubai Airshow 2021?

For more than three decades, AEC has contributed to providing world-class services, systems, and solutions to the defense and security forces in Saudi Arabia. We have keenly scaled up our capabilities across the Defense and Aerospace, Information and Communication Technology, Cyber security and Energy domains. When Dubai Airshow returns, we look forward to an excellent opportunity to showcase our engineering, manufacturing and MRO capabilities along with our solutions in C4I, Cyber Security, Air Operations Centers, and Unmanned Arial Vehicles. It will also be an excellent forum to explore new opportunities for driving innovation and transfer of technology, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 goals to localize more than 50% of the military spending.

• How did COVID-19 impact the defense industry?

With the pandemic outbreak, almost all industries were impacted to different degrees. However, the impact on the defense sector, from what we have seen, was less severe compared to others. This is mainly due to the fact that defense programs are typically long-term, and of strategic nature and resilience. AEC has been able to continue supporting its operation and fulfill our customer commitments in our current programs, which shows the robustness of our business model, and the demand for self-sufficiency and technology localization in the defense industry of the kingdom.

• What are the future prospects of the defense industry?

We are optimistic about the future and our strategy is to expand our capabilities and businesses in technology domains that are critical to the defense and security forces of Saudi Arabia and aligned with the strategic technology roadmap of the Saudi General Authority of Military Industries. The military industries sector in Saudi Arabia is expected to continue with strong momentum as the government is very keen to accelerate self-sufficiency, localization and the development of local talent in this sector. We have the full support of our parent company, Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), to ensure that we are one of the major enablers of the realization of this objective of Saudi Vision 2030.