The MÜSİAD Defence Industry Partnerships Committee organized the “Sectoral Meetings: ASELSAN ” panel on Friday, 21 February.
The Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) Defence Industry Partnerships Committee organized the “Sectoral Meetings: ASELSAN ” panel on Friday, 21 February.
The program was held with the participation of MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, ASELSAN Chairman of the Board and General Manager Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, Teknopark İstanbul Chairman of the Board Prof. Dr. Metin Yerebakan, Defence Industry Partnerships Committee Chairman Yasir Bayramoğlu and the members of the MÜSİAD Board of Directors.
Delivering the opening speech of the event, Committee Chairman Yasir Bayramoğlu informed the participants about the work and projects carried out by the Defence Industry Partnerships Committee. Pointing out that MÜSİAD dwells with great sensitivity on the issue of Domestic and National Production, Bayramoğlu stated that, as MÜSİAD, they aim to bring many projects to life in the coming period in the field of the Defence Industry, which they regard as strategic.
A Strategic Sector for Our National Security
Taking the floor after Bayramoğlu, President Abdurrahman Kaan stated that the Defence, Aviation and Space Industry stands out as a sector that both involves high technology and is of high strategic importance in terms of national security.
Emphasizing that the most important feature distinguishing this sector from other sectors is that it makes use of the latest innovations in science and technology, President Kaan said,” As MÜSİAD, our goal is to turn these sectors into strategic sectors not only in terms of national security but also in terms of the national economy.”
Speaking also about MÜSİAD's contributions to the defence industry, Kaan said, “One of the contributions our members offer to the sector is creating an employment area for approximately 5 thousand people. The rate at which our members work with ASELSAN is 30 percent. These figures are of course gratifying; but naturally we will intensify our efforts to carry these rates even higher.”
We Can Multiply the Successes We Have Achieved in Global Markets
Emphasizing that the private sector companies with which ASELSAN carries out joint production should be brought to the fore and their national and international recognition increased, Kaan made the assessment,”The more our companies are recognized, the more demand they will receive and the greater the increase in production will be. Because we already have production that is of high quality and able to compete with manufacturers around the world. Therefore, if we can open up more space for our companies, then the cooperation between them will grow stronger and there will be no obstacle before us to multiply the successes we have achieved in the global market.”
“There Is No Combat Without Communication”
Speaking at the panel session, ASELSAN Chairman of the Board and General Manager Haluk Gürgün gave information about ASELSAN's purpose of establishment, its work and its forward-looking strategies. Stating that ASELSAN was founded after our own units were lost in an unfortunate accident during the 1975 Cyprus Peace Operation, Haluk Gürgün emphasized that over a period of 45 years the institution has acted with the understanding that “there is no combat without communication”.
Pointing out that ASELSAN has 120 investors from all over the world, Gürgün emphasized that the company, which produces solutions in 19 different fields, has a very wide product range capable of meeting the needs of domestic and international end users, primarily the Turkish Armed Forces, in communication and information technologies, radar and electronic warfare, electro-optics, avionics, unmanned systems, land, naval and weapon systems, air defence and missile systems, traffic, automation and health technologies. Gürgün said, “Today ASELSAN has become a brand that exports its original products, takes its place in the list of the world's top 100 defence industry companies (Defense News Top 100), establishes partnerships in international markets by devising cooperation models with local organizations, and invests.”
We Are Running 500 Projects Simultaneously
Noting that ASELSAN is both an engineering and an R&D company, Gürgün said that they run approximately 500 projects simultaneously and carry out exports to approximately 20 countries. Adding to his words that ASELSAN works with close to 4 thousand companies, Gürgün stated that 3,100 of these consist of domestic SMEs.
“The Innovation Economy Is the Key to Global Competition.”
Another name speaking at the panel, Teknopark İstanbul Chairman of the Board Prof. Dr. Metin Yerebakan, delivered a presentation under the topic “Humanity's Journey to Productivity”. Giving information about the stages of humanity's development throughout the historical process, Yerebakan stated that after the industrial society a transition was made to the information society, and that today the process of the innovative society is being experienced. Yerebakan made the assessment,”The economy we live in is the innovation economy woven by digital technologies. The innovation economy is the key to global competition.”
Emphasizing that knowledge is now shifting to the east, Yerebakan stated that we must now ask ourselves not how but for what, and that development comes through learning know-how processes.
Pointing out in his speech that imagining is more important than knowledge, Yerebakan said, “An idea is a sprout; incubating ideas, being patient and valuing them is essential in order to develop.”