The “Defense Industry Kocaeli Provincial Meeting” and the Match4Industry bilateral business meetings event, organized under the leadership of the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) with the participation of companies, took place simultaneously at the new service building of the Kocaeli Chamber of Industry. The event was attended by the Vice President of the Presidency of Defence Industries, Prof. Dr. İhsan Kaya. Participation from both domestic and international companies was strong throughout the two-day program. Following the opening ceremony, the “Defense Industry Kocaeli Provincial Meeting” attracted significant interest during the afternoon session and continued to receive high attention on the second day. The Match4Industry event, organized for the 14th time within the framework of the Enterprise Europe Network, hosted participants over two days and continued to serve as a bridge for establishing commercial and technological partnerships among companies. A large number of bilateral meetings were held during Match4Industry, which was attended by 181 Turkish and international companies.
Over 4,500 Business Meetings
Hosted by Kocaeli Chamber of Industry (KSO) Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu and KSO Assembly Chairman Hasan Tahsin Tuğrul, the event was held with the participation of Prof. Dr. İhsan Kaya, Vice President of the Presidency of Defence Industries. Kocaeli Governor İlhami Aktaş, the provincial protocol, and officials from defense industry foundation companies also showed strong interest. The program began with an opening speech by KSO Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu. He stated the following:
“We consider the defense industry a strategic field in terms of our country’s industrialization process and economic development. Thanks to its high-technology-based production structure, we know that this sector is one of the areas with the highest levels of innovation capacity and added value. For this reason, as the Chamber, we carry out various programs, collaborations, and projects to support our member industrial enterprises in becoming suppliers to the defense industry. Through our events to date, we have enabled more than 4,580 business meetings and more than 95 company visits.”
“Golden Age of Localization Award”
“Since 2017, we have been providing ‘Defense Industry Consultancy Services’ within our Chamber in order to coordinate the production of domestically developed and nationally produced weapons, devices, and systems needed by the Turkish Armed Forces. Based on the experience gained through this work, and in order to manufacture equipment planned for localization, we established the ‘Kocaeli Defense Industry Company’ in 2019 under the leadership and partnership of our Chamber, with the partnership of 64 of our members. As KSS, we completed the production and military-standard qualification of the ‘Meteorological Observation and Global Positioning System’ requested by ASELSAN for localization and made it available for use by the defense industry in 2022. With this system, we received ASELSAN’s Golden Age of Localization Award.”
The Event Provides an Important Opportunity
“In our ‘Defense Industry Kocaeli Meeting’ event, the Presidency of Defence Industries, the Ministry of National Defence Inventory Control Center General Directorate, and the General Directorate of Military Factories, as well as ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN, TUSAŞ, STM, BMC, Machinery and Chemical Industry Inc. (MKE), TEI, TÜBİTAK SAGE, FNSS, Aspilsan, and ASFAT are participating. This event provides an important opportunity for our companies that aim to become suppliers to the defense industry. It offers the possibility to establish partnerships through bilateral business meetings regarding the domestic procurement of defense industry products that are currently imported from abroad. Bilateral business meetings will continue today after the opening and will also continue tomorrow. I hope our event will bring benefit to all our companies, our region, and our country.”
Following Zeytinoğlu’s remarks, Deputy Mayor of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Hasan Soba took the podium and emphasized the importance of the progress made in industry in recent years.
Kaya Presented Information on Ongoing Work
Prof. Dr. İhsan Kaya, Vice President of the Presidency of Defence Industries, provided information on the activities of the Presidency and the work and innovations being carried out in the defense industry. Highlighting the significance of Turkey’s progress in the defense industry, Kaya stated that all stakeholders must act together to ensure sustainable success. Kocaeli Governor İlhami Aktaş also underlined that the alignment of Kocaeli’s defense industry stakeholders toward a common goal would make Kocaeli one of Turkey’s strategic production centers. Aktaş stated that he believes Kocaeli’s contribution to Turkey’s defense initiative will reach much higher levels in the future.
Intensive Bilateral Meetings on the Second Day
On the first day, the program continued with meetings held by the main contractor foundation companies participating in the event. On the second day, the main contractor companies met with supplier companies that are members of the Kocaeli Chamber of Industry, holding intensive bilateral business meetings. The meetings, held at the new service building of KSO, continued until the evening hours with strong interest from companies. A total of 583 meetings were held within the scope of the “Defense Industry Kocaeli Provincial Meeting.”
Match4Industry Brought Companies Together
The Match4Industry bilateral business meetings, held simultaneously with the “Defense Industry Kocaeli Provincial Meeting,” also hosted participants over two days. Organized for the 14th time within the Enterprise Europe Network to support companies in expanding into international markets, Match4Industry continued to serve as a bridge for establishing commercial and technological partnerships between companies. Turkish and international companies came together in Kocaeli to explore business opportunities, build new connections, and follow the latest developments in the industry. The event hosted 181 Turkish and international companies operating in automotive supply industry, machinery, metal, automation, plastics, chemicals, construction materials, information and communication technologies, industrial services, and consultancy.
