Turkish Aerospace’s Malaysian Office, Furthers Opportunities for Defence Industry Collaboration
KUALA LUMPUR: Turkish defence company, Turkish Aerospace today open its new Asia-Pacific office in Malaysia’s city of Cyberjaya, further clarifying the airframe-maker’s emphasis to set a wider footprint in the region.
With the opening of the Malaysian chapter, Turkish and Malaysian engineers will work in the new office to carry out joint studies in a variety of areas which includes unmanned aerial vehicles, jet trainers, helicopter projects, and modernisation programmes for the global aviation ecosystem.
The ceremony was opened by Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, Azmin Ali. Present at the event were Ambassador of Turkey to Malaysia, Merve Safa Kavakcı, Turkish Aerospace’s President & CEO, Professor Temel Kotil, and senior officials of the Malaysian government.
Addressing the event, Minister Azmin said that the opening of the Malaysian office is an opportunity for the Turkey and Malaysia better synergise their joint expertise to secure workflow for the benefit of the aerospace industry of both nations.
“I believe that we could explore how best we may accentuate this partnership, so that to enhance both our nations to progress both our nations’ competitiveness in light of challenges and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution,” said Minister Azmin.
Azmin added that Turkish Aerospace’s presence in Malaysia not only joins that of other international aerospace players here, such as Airbus, Safran, and GKN Aerospace, but also opens opportunities for the company to initiate collaboration with local defence companies.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Merve said that the presence of Turkish Aerospace will be mutually beneficial for the relations between both Malaysia and Turkey. This, having said that Turkish defence companies are engaged in many solid cooperation projects in different parts of the world, including Malaysia.
CEO & President of Turkish Aerospace, Prof. Temel Kotil said that Malaysia is a strategic location to expand the company’s presence in Asia-Pacific due to the availability of the required skillsets in aerospace for manpower resources here.
“We are looking forward to have Malaysian and engineering and technology students to work hand-in-hand with Turkish engineers to develop new technologies,” said Prof. Temel in a separate interview with Asian Defence Journal (ADJ), after the event. Prof. Temel also said that the company is looking at setting up a manufacturing facility in Malacca state for the purpose of joint collaboration work for national defence programmes.
When asked about the update on the ANKA Medium Altitude-Long Endurance (MALE) UAV programme offered to Malaysia, Prof. Temel said that as the system has already been bid for the Royal Malaysian Air Force UAV programme, and currently awaiting decision by the government.
ANKA was exhibited for the first time in the static area at LIMA (Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition) held in March 2019. The system has also been promoted to other maritime nations here in the region to fulfil the requirement for maritime surveillance capability.
Malaysia marks Turkish Aerospace’s second office in the Asia-Pacific region, and the first for Southeast Asia. The first Asian office was set up in Pakistan’s National Science & Technology Park, located at Islamabad in 2019. –shp/adj/aaa (PHOTOS: nz/shpmedia)