By Azernews

By Economy Service

Turkey’s Defense Industry CEO Ismail Demir has said that the country’s defense industry orders grew by 40 percent, reaching $9 billion dollars in 2022, Yeni Shafak daily has reported.

Demir made the remarks at the 4th Defense Industry Meetings co-organized by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) and Turkey's largest industrial cluster SAHA Istanbul, the report added.

In his video address to the conference, Demir emphasized that without industry, it is impossible to talk about the economic and political independence of the country. According to him, while 20 years ago, only 62 defense projects were carried out in Turkey, this number has reached 800 today.

“More than half of these projects have been launched in the last six years. While defense projects with a budget of $5.5 billion were carried out 20 years ago, the current project volume exceeds $60 billion, with the trend continuing to rise,” Demir stressed.

According to the sector performance data for 2021, Turkey’s defense and aerospace industry sector turnover exceeded the $10 billion thresholds in 2021 and returned to pre-pandemic figures, he added.

In remarks at the summit, SAHA Istanbul Board Chairman and Baykar General Manager Haluk Bayraktar said that defense industry exports have significantly contributed to Turkey's diplomatic achievements.

“Defense industry exports are not only an economic activity but also a very strong diplomatic leverage. We see its contribution to the country's efforts," Bayraktar stressed.

Turkey continues to make significant strides in the defense industry, which plays a critical role in safeguarding the country's independence, Bayraktar said, adding that they are making an intense effort as SAHA Istanbul in order to develop the capabilities of the companies.

“The Turkish defense industry is in a faster growth trend compared to many other sectors. Our industry realized an export of $3.2 billion in 2021 with an increase of 41 percent compared to the previous year. 10 years ago, our exports were equal to $800 million. We can easily say that we will reach $4 billion by 2022. When we look at the first quarter of 2022, our defense industry exports reached $961 million with an increase of 50 percent compared to the first quarter of 2021,” he underlined.

ICI President Erdal Bahcivan said that the Turkish defense industry is one of the most important sectors in Turkey with its contractors, universities, research institutions, domestic and national technological products.

He stated that recent events highlight the importance of domestically produced technologies for the security and existence of the country.

"Developing critical technologies locally and nationally, and providing competitive products and services in high technology areas will be the main step in the development of our country," he said.