MÜSİAD & ROKETSAN Supplier Days Program

14 December 2023

Esteemed members of our MÜSİAD, valued representatives of our business world,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

I greet you all with respect, affection and reverence.

Welcome, all of you, to the MÜSİAD & ROKETSAN Supplier Days Program.

This program, organized under the leadership of our MÜSİAD Defence Industry Sector Board, was planned primarily to strengthen interaction and increase partnership in the defence industry sector.

Our aim is to encourage strategic cooperation between the members of our sector and the representatives of other sectors, both through B2B meetings and by improving procurement processes. In this way, we aim to further strengthen business connections between the defence industry sector and other sectors.

Among the valued companies attending this important event of ours, led by our members from the defence industry sector, we have esteemed members from machinery manufacturing, cyber security, textile, tourism, construction and many other sectors. We wholeheartedly thank all our companies and members who took part.

At the very beginning of my remarks I would like to underline one point. The defence industry being strong, and your possessing deterrent modern weapons, does not prevent you from putting the human being first. Our preparation for war must always be for establishing sulh-u salah, that is, peace and justice.

I condemn Israel, which is carrying out a barbaric genocide by dropping thousands of tons of bombs on the innocent people of Gaza and Palestine using the most modern weapons, and the global centres that protect, support or remain silent about this oppression.

Distinguished guests,

As we emphasize at every opportunity, the way to come to the fore in international politics passes first of all through diplomacy. Türkiye is a country that uses diplomatic channels very aptly. Because we have a deeply rooted tradition of diplomacy. We can trace the beginning of the culture of diplomacy in our tradition back to the founding period of the Ottoman State.

Another element of strong diplomacy is a strong defence industry. Taking an effective role in the solution of problems in the international arena and being a state with a say on the global stage is possible only through having a strong defence industry.

Especially under current global conditions, it is essential that your military and technological capacity be very strong in order to set the rules of the game. Yet the element of power that has a multiplier effect on these capacities is human resources and human capital. In this sense, simultaneously with the development of our defence industry, we must make investments that will develop our human capital and carry out special projects to raise young generations.

At first glance it may be assumed that the basic purpose in developing the defence industry is only military security. However, the impact of the industrialization process on the economy is quite large. For the defence industry is a sector with very strong links to the other sectors within the national economy. The defence industry both provides a source for the intermediate and investment goods industries within the manufacturing industry, and enables new industrial branches to emerge and develop.

The fact that the defence industry affects many sectors at once also occupies a very important place in our development target, especially in recent years.

As you know, thanks to the steps taken and the policies pursued especially in the last 20 years, the needs of our security forces have begun to be met to a significant extent with national technologies and domestic means. Thanks to this, a high domestic content rate of 80 percent has been achieved in the defence industry.

As we advance in line with our “Century of Türkiye” target, which our esteemed President points to at every opportunity, the great distance we have covered in the defence industry will also be one of the indicators of this.

Esteemed MÜSİAD Family, distinguished participants,

As a result of ROKETSAN’s evaluations, we have the opportunity to hold this important event of ours with the participation of 210 of our companies. We will bring our companies together at a total of 14 B2B tables. Taking into account the travel conditions of our members coming from outside the city, we have reserved the morning hours for our İstanbul members. In the afternoon hours, our members coming from outside İstanbul will hold their meetings.

We thank once again all our members participating from a total of 17 provinces.

Our event was planned primarily to realize potential procurement transactions among the participants. Within this scope, the B2B meetings aim to assess the needs of the companies and to identify suitable forms of cooperation.

The potential business opportunities and procurement transactions among our participating companies will support sectoral growth. In this way, by encouraging cross-sector cooperation, we aim to accelerate procurement processes and to build quality, long-term business partnerships.

Esteemed MÜSİAD Family,

As I conclude my remarks, I thank you very much for your participation and greet you all with respect and reverence.

May God protect you.

Mahmut Asmalı

President of MÜSİAD