Defence Industry Exporters Union
In his speech delivered in the general assembly, Mr. Zafer ÇAĞLAYAN stated that Ankara is not only the capital city of Turkey but also the capital city of SME’s and defence industry. “The primary objective is not to increase the number of the exporters union, it is actually to increase the number of exporters” said Mr. ÇAĞLAYAN and added: “Absence of a defence industry exporters union in Turkey till today has been a crucial deficiency”. He also noted that everyone in Turkey should adapt himself to the developments and added there will be many significant activities to be performed in line with Turkey’s 2023 targets.
“One of the most critical intentions for the establishment of the Defence Industry Exporters Union is working closely with each other in the sector and this Union will seek solutions against the problems encountered in the sector at every platform” said ÇAĞLAYAN.
“The Turkish defence sector achieved a US$2.3 billion turnover in 2009 and US$2.7 billion in 2010 with a 17% increase” said ÇAĞLAYAN and added: “28% of the revenue has been obtained from the defence electronics sector; 20% from the weapon, ammunition, rocket and missile sector; 19% from the land platforms sector; 12% from aerospace sector and 5% from IT sector. In 2010, the defence sector realized export activities at an amount of US$634 million both as goods and services. On the other hand, the sales figures in 2009 in the international markets were US$55 billion as defence industry goods and services in total. Turkey’s share in the international market is 1,2%. This share is significant. Between 2002 and 2009, this share was 0,4%. This year, our exportation activities will also continue increasingly”.
“The majority of the companies performing activities in the sector is located in Ankara” said ÇAĞLAYAN and added: “We should focus on R&D studies and utilize high technology and high added value”.
President of Sarsılmaz Silah Sanayi Mr. Latif Aral ALİŞ, who was elected as the President of the Union, said in the General Assembly that their primary purpose is to resolve the problems encountered in the sector and added: “More rapid and target-oriented studies will be carried out in order to increase the competitiveness of the sector in international markets”. ALİŞ also pointed out that they will work for the defence industry exporters to get the largest share in the world’s defence industry pie and said: “Our target is to increase the export of the defence industry from US$1 billion to US$2 billion”.
The Defence Industry Exporters Union, established with the aim to gather export-manufacturing companies performing activities in the defence industry and increase the capacity of the sector, has come into effect with 79 member companies following the announcement in the Official Gazette. The first members of the Board were ASELSAN, FNSS, ROKETSAN, YONCA-ONUK, SSM, MKEK, SS. HUĞLU, YURTTAŞ, YAVAŞÇALAR, and BAHTİYAR.
