Turkey's exports to the GCC on a steady rise

Turkish defense and aerospace companies make a beeline for the UAE

Dubai, 21 December 2017:  TİM Tanıtım Organizasyon İç ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş. (TİM A.Ş), the specialised organisation of Turkish exporters, has revealed that the UAE was Turkey's top export markets in the GCC at USD 62 million followed by Saudi Arabia (USD 48 million).

Turkey's exports to the GCC have been on a steady rise since 2011 when the government launched several indigenous programs, including for helicopters, drones, frigates and corvettes, tanks, missile systems, and a fighter jet. Other exports include electronic and electro-mechanical systems, software, management systems, cyber-security solutions flight simulators.

Turkey's defense and aerospace exports have almost doubled globally in five years, rising from $883 million in 2011 to $1.68 billion in 2016 and to $1.53 billion in the 11 months of 2017.

Recently, eight specialist aerospace and defense oriented Turkish companies set up impressive exhibits at Dubai Airshow 2017. The ATAK helicopter flew in Dubai for the first time while TAI brought its ANKA-S, Hürkuş and T625 helicopters to the Dubai Airshow. Participating Turkish companies included Airport Solutions Turkey, Ayesas, Havelsan A.S., Nicomatic, Roketsan Roket Sanayii Ve Ticaret A.S., Tai-Tusas Aerospace and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with its subsidiaries Turkish Cabin Interior, Turkish Cargo Sponsorship, Turkish Seat Industry and Turkish Technic.

Mehmet Buyukeksi, Chairman of TİM A.Ş said: “Turkish defense industry has an aggressive goal of reaching an export target of $25 billion and being self-sufficient by 2023. Our strong participation at the Dubai Airshow helped us reach our export target faster as more deals originated at the airshow and further business is expected from the GCC market.”

Turkey's top armoured vehicles manufacturers are aggressively seeking deals in the GCC. A $661 million joint venture, signed in February 2017, between Turkish military vehicle manufacturer Otokar and UAE firm Tawazun created Al Jasoor, the 8x8-wheeled amphibious armoured vehicles brand. Aselsan and the Saudi public company TAQNIA DST have joined forces to design and produce radar, EW and EO-IR equipment, while Aselsan and TAI are currently modernising Bahrain's Cobra helicopters.

According to the Turkish Under Secretariat for Defence Industries (SSM), more than 500 companies have added nearly 3,000 military products to the Turkish defence industry product catalogue and the total value of contracted projects amounted to approximately $31.2 billion.