Saudi security forces perform manoeuvres during a parade in preparation for the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca. Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Saudi security forces perform manoeuvres during a parade in preparation for the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca. Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Saudi security forces perform manoeuvres during a parade in preparation for the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca. Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Saudi security forces perform manoeuvres during a parade in preparation for the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca. Mohammed Salem / Reuters

Saudi Arabia becomes biggest defence equipment importer with $9.8bn set to be spent this year


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Saudi Arabia is now the world’s biggest importer of defence equipment, with spending expected to reach US$9.8 billion in 2015, according to a report from the research firm IHS. That is a rise of 42 per cent compared to the previous year.

“Growth in Saudi Arabia has been dramatic, and based on previous orders, these numbers are not going to slow down,” said Ben Moores, a defence analyst at IHS.

Planned defence spending in Saudi Arabia shot up following the Arab Spring and the rise of ISIL, leading the kingdom to overtake Russia as the world’s third-largest overall spender on defence at $80bn annually.

Saudi Arabia’s 2015 fiscal budget was the largest in the country’s history, with expenditures of 860bn Saudi riyals (Dh842.22bn) planned. The budget did not include an estimate for total defence spending, although in 2014 military expenditure accounted for about 35 per cent of planned expenditure.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia imported more arms from the US last year than all of western Europe combined, spending $8.6bn between them on defence imports.

At the recently concluded Idex in Abu Dhabi, the UAE Armed Forces signed 33 deals worth Dh18.3bn with local and overseas defence companies.

Instability in Libya, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, tensions with Iran and the Arab Spring have concentrated the minds of the region’s defence ministers in recent years.

“There is an immediate military threat emerging on the Saudi periphery,” said Sabahat Khan, a defence analyst at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

“The threat from ISIL has reached the Saudi border. It’s going to be a battle that will span many years. In Yemen, to the south, the [Houthi] rebels are creating problems ... that’s in addition to the long-standing threat from Iran.”

The Middle East is also the world’s fastest growing defence market, with annual spending totalling about $150bn, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

Global defence spending totalled about $1.75 trillion last year, says Sipri.

“When we look at the likely export-addressable opportunities at the global level for the defence industry, five of the 10 leading countries are from the Middle East,” Mr Moores said.

Governments across the Middle East and North Africa are expected to spend about $920bn on arms over the next decade, IHS estimates.

The global arms import-export trade grew to $64.4bn in 2014, up from $56.8bn the previous year.

The US remains the world’s largest exporter of arms, followed by Russia, France and the UK.

Bilateral trade in defence accounts for less than 1 per cent of the overall defence market. The militaries of Europe and the US, which account for the majority of global arms spending, prefer to buy from domestic suppliers, aiming to boost their own economies.

China, the world’s second-largest spender on defence, is to step up its military spending by 10 per cent to $144.2bn in 2015. This is still some way short of the $581bn spent by the US last year.

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Specs

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Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.

If you go

The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes.


The car
Hertz offers compact car rental from about $300 (Dh1,100) per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.


The national park
Entry to Mount Rainier National Park costs $30 for one vehicle and passengers for up to seven days. Accommodation can be booked through mtrainierguestservices.com. Prices vary according to season. Rooms at the Holiday Inn Yakima cost from $125 per night, excluding breakfast.

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Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5

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London Spirit: Kieron Pollard, Riley Meredith 

Welsh Fire: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Naseem Shah 

Manchester Originals: Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sean Abbott

Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz

Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw

Trent Rockets: Colin Munro

Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson

Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock

Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets

Dolittle

Director: Stephen Gaghan

Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen

One-and-a-half out of five stars

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Tour de France 2017: Stage 5

Vittel - La Planche de Belles Filles, 160.5km

It is a shorter stage, but one that will lead to a brutal uphill finish. This is the third visit in six editions since it was introduced to the race in 2012. Reigning champion Chris Froome won that race.

MATCH INFO

Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')

Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')

Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)

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  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
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