{"id":115663,"date":"2026-11-12T17:21:42","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/turkiye-saudi-arabia-ready-to-deepen-defense-ties-expand-joint-production-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T17:21:42","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:21:42","slug":"turkiye-saudi-arabia-ready-to-deepen-defense-ties-expand-joint-production-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/turkiye-saudi-arabia-ready-to-deepen-defense-ties-expand-joint-production-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u00fcrkiye, Saudi Arabia ready to deepen defense ties, expand joint production | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\u00fcrkiye and Saudi Arabia hold defence industry talks in Istanbul, attended by senior officials<\/p>\n

The head of Secretariat of Defense Industries (SSB), Haluk Gorgun, spoke at the T\u00fcrkiye-Saudi Arabia Defense Industry Days in Istanbul. PHOTO: ANAODOLU <\/p>\n

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T\u00fcrkiye was ready to expand defence industry cooperation with Saudi Arabia, backed by over 1,400 projects and a $120 billion portfolio, the country’s top defence official said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The head of the Secretariat of Defence Industries (SSB), Haluk Gorgun, spoke at the T\u00fcrkiye-Saudi Arabia Defence Industry Days in Istanbul, organised by T\u00fcrkiye’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), defence industry cluster SAHA Istanbul, and Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI).<\/p>\n

Saudi Minister of State and Acting Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) Bandar Al-Khorayef, T\u00fcrkiye’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Cetin Ali Donmez, and Istanbul Governor Davut Gul also attended.<\/p>\n

“With our nearly 4,500 defence SMEs, over 1,400 projects, a roughly $120 billion portfolio, and our president’s mandate, we are ready to take every step we can develop together,” Gorgun said.<\/p>\n

Gorgun noted that T\u00fcrkiye had built a strong defence ecosystem over the past 20 years under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and aims to co-develop its model with friendly nations.<\/p>\n

He said Turkish officials held 75 meetings over the past 3.5 years with Saudi counterparts, including GAMI, SAMI, and the General Authority for Defence Development (GADD).<\/p>\n

Gorgun added that Turkish companies were conducting joint work with Saudi partners to support Riyadh’s Vision 2030 goal of localising at least 50% of defence production.<\/p>\n

He also noted that leading Turkish firms and Saudi officials have held meetings on prioritising and establishing defence centres of excellence under Vision 2030.<\/p>\n

Read More:<\/strong> Pakistan ready to take ‘all necessary defensive measures’ to protect Saudi Arabia: DG ISPR<\/a><\/p>\n

Al-Khorayef said T\u00fcrkiye and Saudi Arabia cooperate not only in industry, but also based on brotherhood, highlighting joint efforts in the G20 and the Makkah Agreement.<\/p>\n

He said Saudi Arabia’s defence localisation rate rose from 4% to 27%, with a target of reaching 50% under Vision 2030 through technology transfer and long-term partnerships.<\/p>\n

The Saudi minister noted that Riyadh offers incentives to attract investors and build a globally competitive defence industry powered by international research and development experience.<\/p>\n

Donmez said T\u00fcrkiye’s annual exports had approached $300 billion, with manufacturing accounting for roughly $260 billion of that total.<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic, the country’s high-technology exports had grown by 87.5%, and the share of high- and medium-high-technology products in overall exports has reached 44.2%, Donmez said.<\/p>\n

Donmez noted that T\u00fcrkiye’s total R&D expenditure reached $24.8 billion, surpassing 1.5% of national income, supported by an ecosystem of 318,000 R&D personnel.<\/p>\n

He highlighted that T\u00fcrkiye’s defence and aerospace exports surged from $248 million in 2002 to over $10 billion today, employing more than 100,000 skilled personnel across over 4,000 entities.<\/p>\n

Donmez added that the ministry issued over 1,200 investment incentive certificates for the sector, while 80 defence R&D centres received 71 billion Turkish liras in state support last year.<\/p>\n

He also noted that the Scientific and Technological Research Council of T\u00fcrkiye (Tubitak) provided 65 billion liras in support to over 2,200 defence projects and more than 4,000 researchers.<\/p>\n

Governor Gul emphasised that Istanbul served as a major global trade hub where business representatives from around the world meet weekly.<\/p>\n

Gul noted that SAHA Istanbul had elevated defence industry clustering, transferring T\u00fcrkiye’s accumulated expertise to both domestic organisations and international stakeholders.<\/p>\n

SAHA Istanbul Vice Chairman and Roketsan CEO Murat Ikinci said bilateral defence cooperation would significantly contribute to both countries’ industrialisation and technological deepening goals.<\/p>\n

He noted that the joint will demonstrated through the Makkah agreement had paved the way for concrete projects, backed by strong political motivation for co-production and technology transfer.<\/p>\n

Ikinci stressed that cooperation should include SMEs, subcontractors, and tech startups, noting that SAHA Istanbul represents Europe’s largest technology cluster with over 1,300 member firms.<\/p>\n

He added that joint R&D in autonomous systems, integrated air and missile defence, propulsion technologies, and space systems will offer both nations rapid results.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T\u00fcrkiye and Saudi Arabia hold defence industry talks in Istanbul, attended by senior officials The head of Secretariat of Defense Industries (SSB), Haluk Gorgun, spoke at the T\u00fcrkiye-Saudi Arabia Defense Industry Days in Istanbul. PHOTO: ANAODOLU T\u00fcrkiye was ready to expand defence industry cooperation with Saudi Arabia, backed by over 1,400 projects and a $120 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/turkey-11794492755-0\/turkey-11794492755-0-640x480.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t