Episode 33! On last week’s episode, we talked about the huge transformation going on in Saudi Arabia’s military and USMTM’s role in it with author Bilal Saab, who has a book coming out on the subject. This week, the head of the USMTM from 2019-2021, Col. Brad Gandy, who heard last week’s episode and agreed to join us for Episode 33 of The 966 to talk about it. Before serving as head of USMTM in Saudi Arabia, Col. Gandy served as the senior US defense official and defense attache to Yemen, and he has spent years in the region and in Saudi Arabia in various capacities. He also served as U.S. army attache to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between 2006 and 2010.

Ramadan Kareem to our followers, friends, and all celebrating. 🌙

1:00 — Saudi Arabia’s incredible, award-winning pavilion at Dubai’s Expo 2020 signed off with a big ceremony. Will Saudi Arabia host Expo 2030?
Of the top 5 candidate-cities, two are in Russia and Ukraine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine weakens their candidacy, leaving Saudi Arabia in competition with only Italy (which hosted in 2015) and South Korea. 
So, what would an Expo 2030 Riyadh Saudi Arabia look like? 
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the Saudi bid to host Expo 2030 in October last year and the Kingdom submitted its formal application in December to the Bureau International des Expositions, the organization behind the expo.
In its presentation to the BIE in December, Saudi Arabia outlined bold plans to transform Riyadh and the rest of the country into a world-class venue for global connectivity, culture and climate action.
Indeed, Riyadh is a fast-changing city, and the hosts agree, could make for an excellent host to Expo 2030.
7:07 — Trojena in Saudi Arabia at Neom: You have to see this ambitious new tourism project in the mountains along Saudi Arabia’s northwest coast.
Trojena is newly announced year-round tourist destination that will consist of a series of facilities such as the ski village, ultra-luxury family and wellness resorts, a wide range of retail stores and restaurants, in addition to sports activities, including a ski slope, watersports and mountain biking, as well as an interactive nature reserve, according to Saudi Press Agency.
The project is set to be ready by 2026.
The location has some winter-feeling temperatures: the temp in the mountains above NEOM frequently drops below zero celcius. Located at approximately 2,600 meters above sea level, outdoor skiing will be a unique feature of Trojena which is positioning itself as the GCC’s first outdoor skiing destination.

14:38 — The 966 talks with Col. Brad Gandy, former Chief of the US Training Mission in Saudi Arabia (USMTM) about the U.S.-Saudi security relationship and the ongoing transformation in Saudi Arabia’s military.
Col. Gandy has one of the more impressive resumes out there. Before serving as head of USMTM in Saudi Arabia, he served as the senior US defense official and defense attache to Yemen, and he has spent years in the region and in Saudi Arabia in various capacities. He also served as U.S. army attache to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between 2006 and 2010…
The hosts ask Brad to help us better understand what the USMTM is and the role it plays, how the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process works, and more.
The hosts also ask about the ongoing military transformation in Saudi Arabia and the role USMTM plays in it. The Saudi defense transformation plan is coordinating with the USMTM by embedding, for the first time ever, U.S. military and civilian advisors throughout the Saudi Ministry of Defense, and that included select U.S. defense companies to implement advice, assist, and mentor components of the project.
As chief of the USMTM from 2019-2021, Col. Gandy oversaw this process.

1:08:47 – Yallah! Six storylines to get you up to date on Saudi Arabia headed into the Weekend.
•Riyadh Season 2021, the marquis festival of the Saudi Seasons program closes today after a 5-month run begun on October 20, 2021. It has welcomed over 15 million visitors to its 13 zones, spanning 5.4 million square meters. With the slogan ’Imagine More’ this Riyadh Season included several concerts performed by the likes of Sean Paul, Pitbull, Amr Diab, and Mohamed Hamaki, among many others. According to Trade Arabia it also hosted the kingdom’s first cosplay event, attended by hundreds of Saudi nationals, residents and visitors who dressed up as their favorite movie and cartoon characters.

•The second phase of Saudi Arabia’s decision to localize professions in grocery stores and supermarkets came into force on Monday, according to a report in the Saudi Gazette. This phase aims to reduce the number of foreign staff in sales by half in the roles of department manager, deputy branch manager, and branch manager. As of 2021, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) announced the localization of 20 professions and activities from a variety of sectors, as well as the establishment of nearly 378,000 employment openings.

•Saudi budget airline flynas is in negotiations with both Boeing and its current supplier Airbus to buy aircraft worth $13 billion to $15 billion, according to a report in Reuters. The carrier has increased the number of planned new orders to 250 aircraft and also plans to increase the number of destinations to 165 from 70.

•About 499,000 Saudis entered the employment market in 2021; an average of 1,367 Saudis per day, according to an Okaz/Saudi Gazette study of recently released government reports. The total number of male and female Saudi employees in the local labor market reached about 2.25 million in 2021, marking a 28.51% increase from 2020, when their number reached about 1.75 million.

•FDI inflows totaled $19.3 billion, the most since 2010, according to data published by the Saudi central bank on Monday. according to Bloomberg. The bulk of last year’s FDI total was from state oil company Saudi Aramco selling a $12.4 billion stake in an oil pipelines entity to investors led by EIG Global Energy Partners LLC. A new national investment strategy last year set an FDI target of more than $100 billion annually by 2030.

•SPA announced on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia deposited $5 billion in Egypt’s central bank as the Egyptian economy faces new economic pressures as a result of the war in Ukraine. On March 21 Egypt devalued its currency by around 14% after investors had pulled billions of dollars out of Egyptian treasury markets. Saudi Arabia said last October it had deposited $3 billion with Egypt’s central bank and extended the term of another $2.3 bln in previous deposits. This new deposit would bring the total to $10.3 billion, this according to a report in Reuters.