Turkish Defense Industry to meet World Giants at the ICDDA Event for the 3rd Time
The Industrial Cooperation Days in Defense and Aerospace (ICDDA) to be held for the third time on 11 – 13 October 2016 by the OSTİM Defense and Aviation Cluster (OSSA) under the auspices of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) and with the support of the Ministry of Economy was presented through a press meeting. Undersecretary for the Defense Industries Prof. İsmail Demir, Deputy Undersecretary for Defense Industry Dr. Celal Sami Tüfekçi, Head of the Industrialization Department at SSM Mr.Bilal Aktaş, executives of the Ministry of Economy, OSTİM Chairman of the Board Mr.Orhan Aydın, Chairman of Defense and Aerospace Industry Exporters’ (SSI) Mr.Latif Aral Aliş, OSSA Chairman Mr.Mithat Ertuğ and sector representatives and members of the cluster attended the introductory press meeting.
Hilal Ünal: “Our members have achieved a 107 percent increase in exports since 2013”
OSSA Coordinator Ms.Hilal Ünal extended information to the participants on the events held in the previous years in her opening remark. Ünal said that they organized the first of the ICDDA event in 2013 with participants from 22 countries, increased the number of countries to 34 in 2014 and number of companies to 270 and thus prominently raised the participation to the event. Ünal expressed that the export level of their cluster members achieved an increase of 107 percent since 2013 and added, “We are attending both national and international events. Seizing opportunities for new business ventures through these events bear great importance for SMEs”. Ünal stated that a total of 4 thousand 800 official bilateral business negotiations registered into the ICDDA organization was accomplished in 2014 and continued, “This is a cost-effective organization. We made an average calculation; approximately 32 thousand Euros is required for the SMEs to conduct talks with this amount of buyers. We gather the major players and our companies in Ankara in a cost-efficient manner”.
Mithat Ertuğ: “Opportunities for SMEs”
OSSA Chairman of the Board Mr. Mithat Ertuğ drew the participants’ attention to the ongoing developments in the defense industry and underlined the fact that the Turkish defense and aerospace industry reached a capacity to build its own tank, helicopter, vessel and unmanned air vehicle. “Turkey, importing almost every component regarding the defense industry until very recent past, has now entered into the maturity stage. Size of our sector exceeds 3.5 billion USD where the employment opportunities it creates exceeds 50 thousand”, said Ertuğ.
Stating that the sector was offering very significant opportunities and facilities to the SMEs, Ertuğ continued, “The fact that thirty percent of the total defense industry turnover defined as defense and aerospace being covered by the sub – industry which is mostly composed of SMEs is a clear indicator of the importance of the SMEs in this sector”.
OSTİM Chairman of the Board: “It would not survive unless there was advantage”
OSTİM Chairman of the Board Mr. Orhan Aydın mentioned that the cluster activities launched within the region now went beyond the borders of OSTİM and Ankara and emphasized that the moral support provided by the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries was of utmost importance in the organization of this event.
Aydın stated that the implementations put forth by the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries were always brought into the agenda when the activities of other ministries were being mentioned, and continued, “We are speaking of an ecosystem extending from the major players of the sector to the SMEs within the structure of OSTİM. We are happy to be a part of such event. We exert efforts in order to carry this effective structure, this organization to other institutions as well”.
Prof. İsmail Demir: “Our Subcontractors now need to Rise to the 1st Tier Subcontractorship”
Undersecretary for Defense Industries Prof. İsmail Demir expressed their satisfaction for granting support to the ICDDA 16’ event and stated that most of the companies attending the event are conducting sales in Turkey today. Prof. Demir continued, “The new dimension which will be adopted by Turkey now has to be like this; these new companies even though they do not execute direct sales to Turkey need to be informed about the competency of our SMEs and companies and thus consider taking part in this market in Turkey. This should be our target from now on”.
Referring also to the immediate purchases, Prof. İsmail Demir pointed that the intermediary companies and companies conducting direct sales were active and added, “We try to control this and direct our sector as far as possible. Surely, the same amount of workload fall to the companies we select as main contractors within the scope of the programs”.
Prof. Demir underlined that the domestic companies to participate to this event need to launch their preparations as soon as possible in order to put forth their capabilities and also advised our companies to shape the issues to be negotiated on clearly and select the companies to conduct the business talks with in advance. On the other hand, Prof. Demir underlined the following issues as well: “For the success of this organization, we are ready to do our part as the Undersecretariat. We will be taking part in these activities actually through our Industrialization Department and continue to provide support to such events. Of course, we have to keep the points which may attract the companies on the table while we invite them to this event. Our industry needs to progress towards becoming a first tier sub-contractor from being a second or third tier sub-contractor. We are conducting various activities with OSSA within the scope of the policies we adopted in order to bring our companies to the position of the worldwide preferred companies. What else could we do in respect with the production quality, design quality, human resources quality issues that would raise our companies to a higher level? How can we support this? We have to bring such points into the agenda”.
The broad participation of both the main contractor companies and sub-industry companies from abroad are expected in the event which will take place at the Ankara ATO Congresium center on 11-13 October 2016. In addition to the participation of domestic main contractor companies such as TAI, Aselsan, Roketsan, Havelsan and FNSS, attendance of many sub-industry companies are planned for this year’s event. Participation of approximately 250 foreign companies including major OEMs such as the Boeing and Airbus from over 30 countries and the accomplishment of over 4,000 bilateral business negotiations are expected to take place.
