An Assessment of Mr. Tuhin Quddus, Head of Defense & Security Portfolio, IRN about IRN Organizations
Defence Turkey: Dear Mr. Tuhin Quddus first of all thank you for your time. Could you please inform us about your organizational structure, activities, goals and mission as IRN?
International Research Networks Ltd. (IRN) is a B2B conference organiser with around 40 employees in London. Predominantly, we operate in the industries of Oil & Gas, Security, Energy, Commodities, Infrastructure and Mining, and we launched our Defence portfolio a year ago. We’ve executed 107 conferences in 34 global cities since the company started in 2009, and have endorsement and support from a wide range of Governments and Ministries across different sectors.
We’ve welcomed Prime Ministers, CEOs, Parliamentary Officials, major Institutions and Associations, and had our events renowned through front page news and major media channels worldwide.
Our goal is to ensure our events are carefully tailored to provide the high-level delegation with the ideal setting to learn about industry news, receive exclusive insights on key projects and initiatives, and establish new business connections.
Defence Turkey: The Turkey Defense Week 2015 (TDW)event was held in Ankara for the first time between 10th-12th November 2015 by the organisation of IRN. Could you please share with us more about the conclusion of the event?
Overall, the conclusions of TDW were very positive and reflect the excitement within the Turkey defence industry right now. The event included high-level presentations on the defence sector in Turkey from the perspectives of the industry, NATO, international MODs, TÜBİTAK and Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM).
It was evident that the potential Turkey carries is great and there are fantastic opportunities out there for international governments and private companies looking for joint projects across a variety of platforms. With Turkey’s 2023 defence export target still a priority, global defence contractors remain largely interested in how and where they can partner with Turkey.
Defence Turkey: Did the event meet with your expectations?
Given this was our launch event in Ankara, I was happy with overall outcome of the event. Not only were we briefed with insightful presentations from both Turkish and international speakers, but the networking breaks and gala dinner were a big success. Although the presence of more international companies would have been welcome, I am confident we can build on this towards 2016 and 2017, a significant period for the Turkish defence industry.
Defence Turkey: Are you planning to organize another event with different topics in Turkey for the defense industries in coming period?
Although TDW had a very general and broad scope of topics, we are planning to organise an event that is more specifically focussed on armaments, capability planning and procurement within Turkish industry. This topic seems to attract the most attention and it will draw international defence companies to participate, especially those who wish to learn about offsets, procurement procedures and meet the necessary contacts for literally doing business in Turkey.
Defence Turkey: What type of fairs and events, and in which places of the world, have been planned in the coming weeks and months?
Despite having several events in the pipeline, our next event will take place in June 2016 in Prague under the official endorsement and patronage of the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic – Eastern Europe Defence Week 2016 will focus on increased procurement activity of defence equipment on countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Given the ongoing regional tension and the Ukraine-Russia crisis, many of the CEE countries have been modernising their militaries and increasing defence budgets, creating the ideal platform for international defence companies to support through international cooperation, co-production and joint-ventures.
It is very exciting as we are attracting National Armament Directors and Procurement Chief’s from Ministries of Defence from countries such as the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria and Estonia (amongst others) – a significantly important gathering of defense professionals given the current regional outlook.
Defence Turkey: Lastly, is there a message you would like to convey to the readers of Defence Turkey magazine?
It is no illusion that international cooperation is a significant topic within the defence industry at present – industry participants have got to find new wants to reach their goals and the concept of tailor-made conferences is something we try and practice.
I would encourage the readers of Defence Turkey magazine to contact us if they are looking to boast their work in the Turkish defence industry, or wish to demonstrate their expertise and offerings to the global market. Although our presence in Turkey is growing, we hope that our future work can assist your country in achieving the goals in the bigger picture.
