SAHA Istanbul Defence & Aerospace Cluster at JEC World 2023

Levent K. Uca, Secretary General of SAHA Istanbul said: “SAHA Istanbul, by closing the first half of 2022 as the largest industrial cluster in Europe, registered the rise of the domestic defence industry in the international arena.”

“As SAHA Istanbul, with our 950 members, our goal is to develop the technological and sectoral competencies of our members, and to support the formation of a strong ecosystem by supporting the cooperation between our members.

When the events that took place in the world last year are evaluated, we see that knowledge or engineering alone is not enough anymore. We are aware of the importance of developing technology yourself, having a high rate of domestic and national engineering, and becoming an exporter rather than an importer from the world. As SAHA Istanbul, we will continue our efforts to meet the needs of Türkiye’s defence industry with advanced technology and domestic, national, and strong solutions in 2023. We will continue to support our members, work with universities, contribute to the education of the sector, and support entrepreneurs and new projects so that Türkiye becomes a self-sufficient, completely independent country that develops and exports technology in the defence industry. Our primary goal is to make Türkiye a self-sufficient, completely independent country in the defence industry, in cooperation with all components of the sector, under the leadership of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Defence Industry Agency.

In addition, with our SAHA MBA program, which we run within SAHA Academy, we provide training to develop the talents of our young managers, whom we see as the future of our industry.” Levent K. Uca emphasized the importance of the SAHA MBA Executive Development Program, in which industry leaders and senior bureaucrats take part as trainers, and said, “The program, which we prepared with TÜBİTAK TÜSSIDE in 2019 with the content, tools and methods equivalent to the most prestigious MBA programs in the world, started its 4th year in 2022. The program, which trains the leading managers of the defence industry, provided training to 200 managers, manager candidates and company owners from 85 different companies.”

Levent K. Uca also gave information about the SAHA Entrepreneurship program, which was launched in 2022. “With our startup program, we bring start-ups together with foreign mentors and funds.

Entrepreneurs are geting ready for investor meetings with the power of SAHA Istanbul ecosystem within the framework of the support provided, especially legal and technical consultancy, business development and promotion, infrastructure. We act as a bridge for young entrepreneurs to benefit from the opportunities and talents of our member companies.

SAHA EXPO, the strongest meeting of the defence industry, has become an international brand followed by the whole world. It has become very important for Türkiye to take part in the world competition in the field of Defence and Aerospace. The Russia-Ukraine war showed that the self-power and self-defence capabilities of the countries are ahead of everything. High technology is no longer enough, it is necessary to make them capable of producing with domestic resources. SAHA EXPO Exhibition, organized under the management of SAHA Istanbul, is held in a way that will make the maximum contribution to the promotion of the Turkish defence and aerospace industry and to increase its export potential. A total of 957 companies, of which 390 are foreign and 567 domestic, 289 official delegations, 103 commercial delegations, and 40,000 sector professionals, atended by 78,643 visitors. In addition, product launches by 281 companies and 114 signing ceremonies with a financial value of over 1 billion dollars and an export rate of at least 60% were held at the exhibition.”

Levent K. Uca also gave information about the important structures of SAHA Istanbul that contribute to the sector; “We carry out technical commitee studies under 10 different headings in order to develop projects in the areas needed by the defense industry, aviation and space sectors, to contribute to localization studies and to form opinions for the development of the sector. These technical commitees continue to work as project kitchens in coordination with other public institutions and organizations, R&D centers, and universities.”

Photo: Levent Kerim UÇA, Secretary General of the SAHA Istanbul Defense, Aerospace and Space Cluster (Courtesy of SAHA Istanbul Defence & Aerospace Cluster)

Meet SAHA Istanbul Defence & Aerospace Cluster at JEC World 2023, hall 6, booth N52.