The first day of the event began with the opening speeches of the Chairman of the Board of OSSA, Ahmet Mithat ERTUĞ, Chairman of the Board of OSTİM, Orhan AYDIN, and Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Gürsel BARAN.

Chairman of the Board of OSSA, Ahmet Mithat ERTUĞ: "The sector offers significant opportunities to our SMEs."

Emphasizing that the local content of the Turkish defense industry reached 70%, the Chairman of the Board of OSSA, Ahmet Mithat ERTUĞ, underlined that OSSA will continue to support and provide opportunities for SMEs, "Today, the local content of the Turkish defense industry in meeting the needs of the TAF has exceeded 70%. The sector offers significant opportunities to our SMEs. For this reason, OSSA was established with the joint actions of SMEs that provided goods and services to the defense industry in July 2008. OSSA continues its efforts to increase domestic production share and make defense industry SMEs competitive in the international market. In this direction, Türkiye's first sectoral event, Industrial Cooperation Days in Defense and Aerospace, is held with the support of the Defense Industry Agency. I hope our event will be a platform where our SMEs and leading industry companies operating in the defense and aerospace industry can create new opportunities. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all our supporters, sponsors, and participants from more than 50 countries."

Chairman of the Board of OSTİM, Orhan AYDIN: "We are trying to increase the competitiveness of our companies by bringing them together in different sectors."

Explaining how the foundations of the Industrial Cooperation Days event were laid, the Chairman of the Board of OSTİM, Orhan AYDIN, said, "The OSSA cluster was formed by more than 300 companies at OSTİM in parallel with this event. I would like to express that we are delighted to host this cluster and to be their partner. We host seven different clusters in our region. Apart from defense and aerospace, we are also trying to increase the competitiveness of our companies by bringing them together in medical, energy, rail systems, communication technologies, and similar sectors. Our Defense Industry Agency and Ministry of Trade always support us in this event. Over 50 foreign companies are participating in this event from abroad. I believe this event is an excellent interface for our SMEs to become the suppliers of our foreign partners. I would like to thank the company representatives, especially from abroad, who participated in this event and honored us."

Chairman of Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Gürsel BARAN: "The number of countries using our products has exceeded 170."

Stating that the Turkish defense exports reached US$3.5 billion last year, the Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Gürsel BARAN, said the expectation for this year is US$4 billion. "When we look at what has been accomplished in the defense industry in the last 20 years, we see that there has been a great success. More than 800 projects are ongoing in the sector, with an approximate value of US$60 billion. The number of countries using our products has exceeded 170, and the number of products we export has surpassed 230. Defense industry exports reached approximately US$3.5 billion in 2021, and we expect it to be US$4 billion in 2022."

Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Ahmet AYDIN: "R&D investments increased 34 times in 20 years."

Emphasizing that Türkiye had made a revolution in the defense and aerospace sectors, the Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Ahmet AYDIN, said that foreign dependency in these fields has decreased to 20 percent. "In the last 20 years, our country has reduced the foreign dependency in our defense industry from 80% to 20% with the projects it has carried out in the defense and aerospace sectors. We continue to work to meet the needs of both Türkiye and friendly and allied countries with the goal of 100% domestic and national defense industry. We are now investing in future technologies beyond just meeting today's needs, in line with the capabilities it has gained in the defense and aerospace industry. We are also pleased to share the opportunities and capabilities we have developed in the defense industry with our friends and allies. How the Turkish defense industry has changed in the last 20 years is clearly seen in the sectoral performance reports published by SaSaD. Defense and aerospace exports have increased 13-fold over the previous 20 years, reaching US$3.5 billion. The turnover has increased 10 times and exceeded US$10 billion, and the number of projects has increased by 12 times and reached 800. One of the most fundamental factors behind this success of the Turkish defense industry is that the R&D investments have increased 34 times in the last 20 years to over US$1,640 billion."

An Effective Platform for Supply Chain-Oriented Cooperation and Business Opportunities

ICDDA brought together military and civil key industrial companies and SMEs operating in defense and aerospace to identify new markets, explore business opportunities, and forge business partnerships. ICDDA, a highly effective and respected organization, featured bilateral business meetings, conferences, and seminars to identify target countries and regions with specific needs and opportunities and translate potential collaborations in the defense and aerospace industries into concrete actions.

At ICDDA 2022, manufacturer and service provider SMEs had the opportunity to present their specialized capabilities in the civil and military fields, thanks to the bilateral business meetings they held with procurement and supply chain officials of OEMs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, and related institutions from both Türkiye and around the world.

More than 90 foreign participants from more than 50 countries, including companies, investors, and institutions, took part in ICDDA this year. A total of 7,500 B2B meetings were held at the event, and 20 cooperation agreements were signed between the companies and institutions of the participating countries from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Turkish companies.

On the first day of the event, seminars were held on "The Future of Global Aviation and Aerospace Supply Chains" and "Defense Industry Value Chain from a Quality Perspective," with representatives from Türkiye's and the world's leading defense companies such as TUSAŞ, TEI, Boeing, Thales, Romaero S.A., Aselsan, MKE, Roketsan, Havelsan, FNSS, and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, provided information about the present and future of the supply chain to the participants. More than 1,500 people attended the conferences, including military, defense, and commercial attachés of several countries in Türkiye, public officials, end users, and representatives of domestic and foreign companies.

On the 2nd and 3rd days of the event, seminars were held on "How to do business with Boeing?", "Cooperation opportunities with Romarm – the National Defense Company in Romania" and "Defense industry procurement process in Pakistan."

Thanks to the successful and effective B2B meetings, ICDDA was also recognized twice with the "Defense Industry Special Award" in 2014 and the "Defense Industry Promotion" special award in 2017 by the Turkish Defense Industry Agency. As always, ICDDA allowed Turkish defense and aerospace industry companies to establish export connections and expand their networks this year. The event, which provided information about the latest developments and technologies in the sector, as well as products and innovations, contributed to the companies' initiation of partnerships with productive B2B meetings and their integration into international markets