Gulf defense spending to rebound to previous level: expert

Defense spending in the Gulf Arab region would climb back to levels before the oil price declined in mid-2014 due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East, expert predicted here Wednesday.

For the past two years, defense budget in the Gulf states fell "for the first time since the global financial crisis in 2009, due to low oil prices," said Tate Nurkin, senior director of strategic assessments at British consultancy IHS Jane's.

However, the ongoing regional tension is fueling a demand for territorial defense military hardware, he told Xinhua at the ongoing biennial International Defense Exhibition and Conference, the biggest of its kind in the Middle East.

The ability to deploy and sustain military forces in Yemen remains a major driver for military procurement in the Gulf region, he said, adding that a Saudi-led pan-Arab coalition has been fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015.

"The stabilization of the oil prices at above 50 U.S. dollars per barrel and fiscal consolidation will support the trend for rebounding military exports into the region," said Nurkin.

Nurkin also said that the source markets are becoming varied, as Arab states shift from countries like the United States and some western European countries to China, Russia and eastern European countries for defense goods, especially small weapons, which are "less expensive, but good enough."

Saudi Arabia cut its defense budget by 7 percent for 2017 to 50.68 billion dollars, according to IHS Jane's. However, Nurkin said the firm expects the Saudi budget to climb back to 60 billion dollars by 2020.

There would also be more work on self-sufficiency in the coming years, he said, mentioning that Saudi Arabia vowed to have 50 percent of their procurement budget, currently the fourth largest in the world, to be spent on local Saudi Arabian industry by 2030.

Earlier in the day, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces said they purchased from an Abu Dhabi-based company electronic surveillance equipment valued at 48.07 million dirham (13.07 million dollars).

It also signed a contract worth 143.3 million dirham (39.04 million dollars) with a UAE-based company to train its combat pilots. Endit