style="border-color:#;" >
style="background:#;" >
Scegli il colore

Qatar: Italy signs JV for weapons production project

Qatar: Italy signs JV for weapons production project

Qatar has signed an industrial joint venture (JV) agreement with Italy - informs gulf-times.com -for the establishment of a weapons production facility in Doha at the three-day Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference (Dimdex) 2018.

The JV was signed by officials of Beretta Group and Barzan Holdings, according to Italian ambassador Pasquale Salzano, who spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a press conference held on board the ITS Carlo Margottini at Hamad Port.

 “I would like to underline that the agreement is extremely important because it is the first time that this type of joint venture was established in an Arab country and Beretta chose Qatar for this project,” Salzano pointed out.

During a presentation, Carlo Festucci, secretary general of AIAD, a federation that represents the Italian Federation of Italian Companies for Aerospace, Defence and Security, said the project will address the weapons and equipment requirements of Qatar’s Armed Forces. “The Beretta Group and Barzan Holdings have pooled their resources to launch a joint industrial project in Qatar in order to meet the requirements of the Qatar government’s Armed Forces to be equipped with state-of-the-art individual armaments.“

The project will see the setting up of a JV called ‘Bindig’ (Qatari term for rifle), which will benefit from the transfer of Beretta’s technology and the construction of a new industrial plant in Doha for the production of assault rifles and handguns, and where new weapons systems will also be developed.

Festucci also said Italian firm Fincantieri has lined up several development opportunities in Qatar such as a tender for a new naval base and for research and development, delivery, and test of Unmanned Fast Patrol Boat: “Fincantieri and its subsidiaries, Seastema, will define a co-operation agreement with Barzan Holdings, established by Qatar's Ministry of Defence to develop the necessary technology on the Unmanned Vessels and the relevant Shore Control Station…Fincantieri will also participate to a tender for design and construction of civil infrastructures, including buildings in co-operation with other important and specialised local partners,” Festucci said.
    According to Salzano, other agreements between Qatar and Italy are slated to be signed today at Dimdex.