“Ten years ago, we
began our march with 60 firms to establish our industry among the world’s top
countries and to grow our exports of domestic and national products to achieve
full independence.” He said and added:” Today, thanks to the support and
excellent work of our members and our Defence Industry Presidency, we have
elevated our country to a level that is sought for, desired, and referenced
across the world.
Our objective when we
started with 60 firms was to represent the whole industry. We have now pulled
our industry together and have 1100 members. We have achieved immense power as
a group. We boosted our exports, which were worth $800 million when we were
created. It is now worth $3 billion.
In the last ten years,
the sector has expanded beyond ammunition, components, and equipment to include
platforms like ships, helicopters, armoured vehicles, simulators, rocket and
missile systems, UAV and UCAV, raising the USD/Kg rate, which is significantly
above the national average, by 20%. We increased the value of our shipments to
the level of 60 USD/kg.
Our main aim as the Defence
and Aviation industry was to be the pride of Turkey. Our wonderful flag is on
our domestic and national products worldwide, in the air, on land, at sea, in
space, and cyberspace.
In ten years, as a
union, we look forward to the future of our industry with optimism and
confidence, and we are inspired to set new goals by what we have accomplished
together. In the 100th anniversary of our Republic and the 12th anniversary
of our union, we will continue to work, produce, and succeed to hit all our
targets with great success.
We realise that as the
Turkish Defence and Aerospace Industry Exporters’ Association, we are stronger
together.”