Türkiye is ready to broaden its defense industry cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the country's top defense official said Thursday at an event on collaboration in the sector in Istanbul.
The head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), Haluk Görgün, spoke at the Türkiye-Saudi Arabia Defense Industry Days, organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), the defense industry cluster SAHA Istanbul and Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI).
Saudi Minister of State and Acting Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) Bandar al-Khorayef, Türkiye's Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Çetin Ali Dönmez and Istanbul Governor Davut Gül also attended the event.
"With our nearly 4,500 defense SMEs, over 1,400 projects, a roughly $120 billion (about TL 6 trillion) portfolio and our president's mandate, we are ready to take every step we can to develop together," Görgün said.
Görgün noted that Türkiye has built a strong defense ecosystem over the past 20 years under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and aims to co-develop its model with friendly nations.
He said Turkish officials held 75 meetings over the past 3.5 years with Saudi counterparts, including GAMI, SAMI and the General Authority for Defense Development (GADD).
Görgün added that Turkish companies are conducting joint work with Saudi partners to support Riyadh's Vision 2030 goal of localizing at least 50% of defense production.
He also noted that leading Turkish firms and Saudi officials have held meetings on prioritizing and establishing defense centers of excellence under Vision 2030.
Al-Khorayef said Türkiye and Saudi Arabia cooperate not only in industry, but also based on brotherhood, highlighting joint efforts in the G-20 and the Mecca agreement.
He said Saudi Arabia's defense localization rate rose from 4% to 27%, with a target of reaching 50% under Vision 2030 through technology transfer and long-term partnerships.
The Saudi minister noted that Riyadh offers incentives to attract investors and build a globally competitive defense industry powered by international research and development experience.
Dönmez, for his part, said that Türkiye's annual exports have approached $300 billion, with manufacturing accounting for roughly $260 billion of that total.
Since the pandemic, the country's high-technology exports have grown by 87.5%, and the share of high- and medium-high-technology products in overall exports has reached 44.2%, according to Dönmez.
He also noted that Türkiye'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.
He highlighted that Türkiye's defense 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.
Gül emphasized that Istanbul serves as a major global trade hub where business representatives from around the world meet weekly.
He also noted that SAHA Istanbul has elevated defense industry clustering, transferring Türkiye's accumulated expertise to both domestic organizations and international stakeholders.
SAHA Istanbul Vice Chair and Roketsan CEO Murat Ikinci said bilateral defense cooperation will significantly contribute to both countries' industrialization and technological deepening goals.
He noted that the joint venture demonstrated through the Mecca defense pact has paved the way for concrete projects, backed by strong political motivation for co-production and technology transfer.
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.
He added that joint R&D in autonomous systems, integrated air and missile defense, propulsion technologies and space systems will offer both nations rapid results.