The development of Turkish defense industry has turned the International Exhibition of Defense Industry (IDEF) into the “Center for Attraction”.
The head of the Department of Defense Industry under the Administration of the President of Turkey Haluk Gergun said this to Anadolu.
Gergun noted that this year there is a significant increase in the number of participants in the IDEF exhibition and its visitors.
“For the IDEF exhibition this year, a platform of 43 thousand square meters was rented. To participate in the exhibition, a delegation from 81 countries arrived. There are about 60 thousand participants. 10 thousand of which from other countries,” said He.
According to him, at meetings with international delegations, they received positive assessments of the development of the Turkish defense industry.
“Many delegations want to use and evaluate this development in Turkey as a role model. Over the past 20 years, we have brought our defense industry to what it is today, thanks to the continuous and constant support of our president. We are able to produce platforms for any environment, whether it is sea, earth or air. We are able to provide existing systems and subsystems of these platforms with domestic technologies, ”Gergun noted.
Gurgyun noticed that the number of companies working in this sector has increased significantly compared to what was 20 years ago.
“If then there were 50-60 companies, today is more than 2,700 companies today. If a budget allocated only for research and development work (R&D) amounted to about $ 50 million, today it is $ 2 billion. There is a 40 -fold increase in R&D expenses, ”he said.
According to the head of the defense industry department, the sector exports as of 2022 amounted to $ 4.4 billion.
“The volume of exports in the first half of this year reached almost $ 2.5 billion. We are aimed at $ 6 billion by the end of the year,” Gergun added.