KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and Turkiye have agreed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation to a higher level, particularly in various military fields.
The Defence Ministry, in a statement said the cooperation includes capacity building, information exchange, as well as science, technology and defence industry collaboration, alongside discussing international geopolitical situations, particularly conflicts in the Middle East such as the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The agreement to establish the defence cooperation was reached during his meeting with his counterpart Yasar Guler yesterday.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin is on his first official working visit to Turkiye from June 9 to 13, since his appointment to the post in December last year.
Both Khaled and Guler also co-chaired the inaugural high-level committee meeting in the defence sector.
Khaled later extended an invitation to Guler to attend the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima), to be held in May next year.
During his visit, Khaled also visited Prof Haluk Gorgun, the secretary of the Turkiye Defence Industry Agency (SSB).,
He was briefed on the SSB, which serves as a driver for the development of the defence industry of the country, leading it to become one of the major players in the global defence industry.
During the visit, Khaled and Gorgun signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning government-to-government (G2G) procurement for defence products between the Malaysian and Turkiye governments, followed by the issuance of the letter of acceptance for the acquisition of the Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 (LMSB2) to Savunma Teknolojieri Muhendiskil (STM), a high-technology shipbuilding company in Turkey.
"The implementation of this G2G MoU will further enhance cooperation between both countries in the defence industry, serving as a mechanism to streamline the military asset acquisition process with Turkey and minimise the risk of losses contributing to high acquisition costs."
While in Turkey, Khaled and his delegation also visited defence industry companies, namely Turkish Aerospace Industries and Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi among others.