The MÜSİAD & AMAC 2nd Sectoral Cooperation Summit, held by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) and the Ankara Military Attaché Corps (AMAC), brought together the military attachés of foreign countries serving in Türkiye and MÜSİAD members. At the summit, where the military attachés of nearly 50 countries came together, representatives of companies carrying out production activities for the defence and aviation industry introduced their firms and products.
Interest from MÜSİAD member companies in the summit, the first of which was held in 2022, has increased manifold. Delivering the opening speech of the summit, which was moderated by MÜSİAD Defence Industry Sector Board Chairman Fatih Altunbaş, MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı said that they carry out all their work and events with a national consciousness and awareness, and emphasized that the MÜSİAD & AMAC Sectoral Cooperation Summit is also a reflection of their domestic and national goals. Austrian Defence Attaché and AMAC President Staff Colonel Thomas Rapatz, for his part, noted that military diplomacy is of great importance for strengthening security and peace at the global level, and that they had come together to discuss these issues and to learn more from one another.
“We Believe in the Importance of Being One and Together”
Speaking at the summit held in Ankara on 9 November, MÜSİAD President Asmalı said: “In these days when we are marking the 100th anniversary of our Republic, as the MÜSİAD community we emphasize our belief in the power of being ‘one and together’. Just as we have for 100 years, today too we believe in the importance of being ‘one and together’, and we are shaping our entire roadmap accordingly for the coming Century of Türkiye. The defence industry and its mechanisms, which are the occasion for our gathering here today, are also vital in terms of international politics and the tradition of statehood. Taking an active role in resolving problems in the international arena and becoming a state with a say on the global stage is possible only through possessing a strong defence industry. While the defence industry provides a source for the intermediate and investment goods industries within manufacturing, it also allows new industrial branches to emerge and develop. The fact that the defence industry affects many sectors at once, creating almost a multiplier effect, occupies a very important place in our development target, especially in recent years. As we move forward in line with our goal of the ‘Century of Türkiye’, which our esteemed President points to at every opportunity, the great distance we have covered in the defence industry is an indication of this.”
850 Defence Projects Are Being Carried Out in 2023
Emphasizing that, thanks to the policies pursued especially over the last 20 years, the needs of the security forces have to a significant extent been met with national technologies and domestic means, Asmalı said: A high domestication rate of 80 percent has been achieved in the defence industry. Major projects have been realized in the defence industry, such as domestic UAVs (İHA) and armed UAVs (SİHA), the ATAK attack helicopter, our national tank ALTAY and the world's first armed-UAV ship TCG ANADOLU. Defence industry trade, which stood at a level of only USD 248 million in 2002, rose to USD 4.4 billion as of 2022. Total defence and aviation turnover, which was USD 1.1 billion in 2002, reached USD 12.2 billion in 2022. While in 2002 a total of 62 defence projects with a budget of 5.5 billion were being carried out in the defence industry, in 2023 850 projects with a total budget of USD 90 billion are being carried out. God willing, our major defence projects will continue without slowing down in the period ahead.”
Relations Between Countries Are Growing Stronger
MÜSİAD Defence Industry Sector Board Chairman Fatih Altunbaş, for his part, pointed out in his speech that the summit, the first of which they organized in 2022 with 34 companies, reached 55 companies this year. Saying that he hoped the number would multiply in the coming years, Altunbaş said: “Today MÜSİAD is no longer a new concept for our AMAC representatives; it has at the same time become the symbol of a strong cooperation and friendship. In the 100th year of our Republic, as the MÜSİAD Defence Industry Sector Board we take justified pride in being the occasion for this strategic summit held at the international level. This year, for the first time, we are also organizing a symposium accompanied by speakers who are experts in their field, which will bring participants together with current developments. Through this summit we are not only enabling MÜSİAD to meet with military attachés and discover new business opportunities; we also aim to strengthen relations between countries.”
Following the opening speeches, MÜSİAD President Asmalı and AMAC President Rapatz presented gifts to one another. Representatives of the companies attending the summit informed the participants about their firms and products through presentations organized in two sessions. In the final session of the summit, the panel “Unmanned Marine Vehicles” was held, with Retired Rear Admiral Hasan Özyurt, Prof. Dr. Caner Özdemir and Burcu Altınok as speakers.
