18 companies operating within the Turkish defense industry exhibited their products and capabilities at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aviation Fair (LIMA 2023), one of the largest defense fairs in the Asia-Pacific Region.
There has been a very close cooperation between Türkiye and Malaysia lately. Following the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, the Malaysian Government and Armed Forces provided their support and assistance in cash and in kind, especially the field hospital, to Turkey.
Malaysian Prime Minister Enver İbrahim visited Turkey 9 days after the earthquake and conveyed his support to the Turkish people. During the visit, mutual consultations were held in order to improve international relations, and in this context, cooperation and potential projects in the field of defense industry were also discussed.
During the talks in question, it was decided to establish a “state-to-state sales mechanism” between the two friendly and brotherly countries in the field of defense industry and to maintain direct relations without using any intermediary firm. For this purpose, the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) has been tasked with the implementation of defense industry cooperation projects with the Malaysian Government. In this context, SSB submitted the draft of the “Cooperation Agreement” to the Malaysian Ministry of Defense in order to establish the legal infrastructure of the “state-to-state sales mechanism”.
While the talks continue as planned, SSB is holding direct talks with the Malaysian State regarding various projects, especially the Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) and 155 millimeter Self-Propelled Howitzer projects.
With the “state-to-state sales mechanism”, successful export projects were implemented with countries such as Bangladesh, Philippines, North Macedonia and Albania under the leadership of the SSB.
“We hope to be able to come with greater good news”
Presidency Defense Industry Vice President Serdar Demirel evaluated the contacts of the Turkish delegation within the scope of the fair and the cooperation efforts for the countries in the region, especially Malaysia.
Expressing that the fair was extremely successful in line with his expectations, Demirel said that they had one-on-one meetings with senior civilian and military decision makers in Malaysia.
Demirel stated that they have signed a contract for the sale of ANKA unmanned aerial vehicles to Malaysia, and that HAVELSAN has signed various cooperation agreements and TITRA Technology has also signed a partnership.
Demirel said, “Beyond all of these, we have come to an agreement with Malaysia on an agreement that will provide partnership and unity in defense procurement. We hope that our defense industry relations with Malaysia will progress much further and we can come with greater good news. In this respect, it is short-lived but extremely successful for us. It was a last fair.” said.
“We feel the Turkish presence again”
Demirel emphasized that Southeast Asia has been an important market for Türkiye since the beginning.
Pointing out that the cooperation that started with Malaysia and Indonesia has spread to the countries in the region, Demirel said:
“We have very serious relations with the Philippines and many countries in the region. Now we are here for partnership, not to sell weapons. We have partnership agreements with many countries. We are making agreements as two states with each other and we are working on this issue. I hope we will give much greater good news in the future. For example, Mr. “We will have good news in the joint production of the KAAN aircraft, which our President will be promoting very soon, and in many similar projects. Southeast Asia is a region close to our homeland, Central Asia. We think that we feel the Turkish presence here again.”
“Our showcase consists of UAVs”
Serdar Demirel said that Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) has a design office in Malaysia, and that other Turkish defense industry companies carry out many activities in the countries of the region with similar structuring.
Expressing that the diplomatic representatives in the region support these efforts with great seriousness, Demirel said, “The Turkish defense industry as a single body is extremely strong and has credit, it has a place that everyone talks about with disdain. I hope we will take it further.” used the phrases.
Speaking about the prominent products in the meetings held within the scope of the fair, Serdar Demirel said:
“There are many products in every store, but there are a few things in the showcase. The customer sees it and comes. Our showcase currently consists of UAVs. Bayraktar TB2, which has shown great success especially in Ukraine and Azerbaijan, is actually our showcase material. The relations that started in this sense are land and sea. and it is spreading to many other areas as well. We have display products right now, but these are actually products that draw the customer in or that allow us to draw our partners in and deepen our relationships. Hopefully, we will enrich our display.”
