The Arab Organization for Industrialization

The Egypt Independent has a "Profile" of the Arab Organization for Industrialization, a major component of Egypt's defense-industrial complex. In an earlier incarnation, writing about indigenous Middle Eastern defense industries in the 1980s, I had considerable familiarity with AOI. Based on the article, things haven't changed all that much.

AOI had its origins in the 1970s, when the idea of a joint Arab defense industry seemed feasible, and the Gulf states (Saudi Arabia., Qatar, and the UAE), fueled with money from the oil price spike in the 1970s, decided to fund a joint industry based on Egypt's industrial base. After Sadat made peace with Israel the inter-Arab component vanished, but the organization remained a separate (though state-owned) entity from Egypt's Ministry of Military Production. I'm not sure even most Egyptians know why it's a separate entity anymore, though it retains the "Arab" in the title.

As the article notes, a great many of its products are for civilian use; the military manufacturing sector makes lots of non-military products. Sometimes it makes sense (jeeps for both military and civilian markets); more often, it's just a way for the military to have its own sector of the consumer market.

As the article notes, AOI has always had a head from a military background, and President Morsi last month named the forcibly-retired head of the Air Defense Forces as its latest chief. It also enjoys the perk the rest of the military sector enjoys: its budget is not public and is not voted by Parliament. There are moves to change that in the new Constitution, but the military will fight to keep it.