MAIN HEADLINES FROM THIS ISSUE:

• Spain asks for national content, ideally around 70 percent, rarely gets it

  Continental projects are building a true European defence industry, and Spain is at the forefront. Pesco, an EU mechanism to promote strategic autonomy, has 47 projects, with most of the backing coming from Spain, Germany, and France. Spain is participating in 24 of the projects and leads two. The question is how much European support can make up for the lack of demand for industrial participation?

• UAE: Lockheed Martin and EDGE to establish joint working groups to identify industrial partnership opportunities

• Saudi Arabia demands foreign companies build “major headquarters”

  Saudi Arabia is incentivising foreign companies to establish their regional headquarters in the country. The companies will not have to abide by the country’s Saudization rules. The decision will pose a challenge to companies who are currently based in the UAE.

• South Africa: B-BBEE Commission clarifies reporting obligations

  South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission has issued a clarification to help businesses with their reporting requirements. The reporting obligations are increasingly onerous and often unclear. The policy plays an important role in the DTI’s civil offset prospectus, the National Industrial Participation (NIP) programme.

• British tier 3 subcontractor to provide technology transfer and sovereign capability under Canada’s ITB policy

  Ultra Group may consider Canadian companies suppliers following a contract to commence work on the S2150-C Hull-Mounted Sonar (HMS) system for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) programme. Ultra is committed to provide technology transfer and sovereign capability.