The Supplier Days Event between the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) and HAVELSAN, an important stakeholder in our country's defence industry, took place at the MÜSİAD Head Office. MÜSİAD's manufacturing members took part in the program, organized in partnership by the MÜSİAD Defence Industry Sector Board and the MÜSİAD Digital Transformation Sector Board.

The event, where MÜSİAD's prominent manufacturing members from different sectors had the opportunity to meet HAVELSAN executives and where B2B meetings took place, was attended by MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, HAVELSAN General Manager Dr. Mehmet Akif Nacar, MÜSİAD Vice President Burhan Özdemir, MÜSİAD Defence Industry Sector Board Chairman Fatih Altunbaş, MÜSİAD Digital Transformation Sector Board Chairman Taha Çiftci, bureaucrats and MÜSİAD members. The event, which began with opening speeches, continued with B2B meetings on procurement between HAVELSAN's purchasing executives and more than 100 MÜSİAD members.

At the event, organized to strengthen interaction and increase stakeholding in the defence industry sector, MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı emphasized the importance of the defence industry for a Türkiye that is effective and has a say in the international arena, saying that strong diplomacy passes through these paths.

In his speech, Asmalı said: “From our point of view, the defence industry is not merely a security sector; it is at the same time a strategic power that carries technology, digitalization, the economy and industrialization much further forward.”

Asmalı continued his remarks as follows:

“We all know that without a strong defence industry it is not possible to conduct strong diplomacy in the international arena and to display an independent stance. With the breakthroughs it has made in the defence industry over the past 20 years, Türkiye has significantly reduced its foreign dependency in this field and raised the domestic content rate to levels of %80. It is thanks to this that, with the UAVs (İHA) and armed UAVs (SİHA), national software, armoured vehicles and defence technologies we produce, we have today become an actor that holds power not only on a regional but on a global scale.

These successes have opened the door to a great transformation for us not only in the field of defence but also in the economy. The defence sector serves as a lever that directly affects many sectors, from the manufacturing industry to software and from logistics to energy. For this reason, every investment to be made in the defence sector will in essence also be an investment in our country's economic independence.”

HAVELSAN General Manager Dr. Mehmet Akif Nacar, for his part, drew attention in his speech to the projects HAVELSAN has carried out and emphasized the new ecosystems the company has entered. In his speech, Nacar said: “While HAVELSAN, as a software-based company, is a company that predominantly cooperates with the software ecosystem, the technologies we have developed in recent times have also enabled us to enter new, platform-based fields of cooperation.”

Nacar continued his speech as follows:

“HAVELSAN, which strives in particular to use the engineering capability within its own structure with maximum efficiency, continues in this respect to add value to our sector and to the country as a company that works very proactively with its own ecosystem and gives priority to the understanding of "let us win together, let Türkiye win".

The feedback we receive from the companies working together with HAVELSAN is among our indispensables in terms of being able to see our shortcomings and the expectations from us and of improving our processes.

With the understanding of being better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today, I invite all our companies that cooperate with us or are ready to do so, and in particular our companies under the MÜSİAD roof, to be together and to build the future of our country together.”

MÜSİAD Digital Transformation Sector Board Chairman Taha Çiftci, in his opening speech, emphasized the importance of digital transformation for the defence industry and other sectors and stated that cooperation with HAVELSAN carries strategic value in the development of domestic and national technologies. Çiftci touched upon the importance of the sharing of information and resources to be provided so that MÜSİAD members can gain a competitive advantage in their digitalization processes. He also expressed his belief that the Supplier Days event would create a strong synergy by bringing together all the actors of the ecosystem.

MÜSİAD Defence Industry Sector Board Chairman Fatih Altunbaş, for his part, underlined in his speech that the goals of localization and nationalization in the defence industry are critical for Türkiye's economic independence. Drawing attention to HAVELSAN's pioneering role in the sector, Altunbaş expressed that the B2B meetings to be held within the scope of the event would enable industrialists to evaluate the opportunities in the supply chain. Altunbaş said that such events lay the ground for sustainable cooperation and will accelerate Türkiye's steps on the path to becoming a technology-producing country.

B2B Meetings Held

Before and after the program, B2B meetings were held between MÜSİAD Members and HAVELSAN Purchasing Management in a total of four sessions. Cooperation opportunities were created in the meetings held on procurement with stakeholders from the many sectors in which HAVELSAN is involved in technology production.

At the HAVELSAN & MÜSİAD Supplier Days Event, MÜSİAD member businessmen also had the opportunity to examine HAVELSAN's latest technology products up close.