Abu Dhabi: Nimr Automotive, an Abu Dhabi-based defence vehicle manufacturer and a member of Tawazun Group, on Wednesday signed a cooperation agreement with FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.S. to set up a project which will pave the way for FNSS to market, sell and possibly produce Nimr vehicles in Turkey for the Turkish market, Tawazun said.
Both sides described the agreement as “culmination of the long standing cooperation between the UAE and Turkey”.
Saif Mohammad Al Hajeri, Chief Executive Officer of Tawazun, said: “We are delighted to be working with FNSS on identifying new business opportunities and joint development and production programmes in both the UAE and Turkey. This agreement will certainly help cement our long-standing and fruitful cooperation with the leading defence manufacturing companies in Turkey.”
Al Hajeri added that this is another credit to UAE’s development that its defence products are becoming rapidly synonymous with innovative design and high quality.
“Being able to export home-grown technological knowhow into another market within a short space of time is a big achievement for Nimr. This is due to the excellent reputation that the UAE-based operation is developing with defence product buyers and users in the region and beyond,” said Al Hajeri.
Mohammad Mussabah Al Mazrouei, Nimr Automotive General Manager, described the agreement as a foundation for long-term cooperation between both countries.
“The agreement provides a solid basis for a long-term cooperation and exchange of expertise between Nimr and FNSS and allows them to complement each other’s capabilities and resources in the fields of military vehicles manufacturing. We are pleased to partner with FNSS, Turkey’s leading manufacturer of armoured vehicles,” Al Mazrouei added.
Early this year, The UAE Armed Forces awarded defence contracts in the tune of Dh4 billion, making the total order to 1800 vehicles.
Last year, Tawazun had expanded its presence in the African defence market by inking of a joint venture (JV) agreement with Groupement de la Promotion de l’IndustrieMécanique (GPIM),a company under the Algerian Ministry of National Defence’s Direction des Fabrications Militaires(DFM), designed to create a new Algerian-based armoured vehicle manufacturer.
According to the agreement with Algeria, the new company will produce UAE-designed armoured vehicles in Algeria under licence from Nimr.
Tawazun said that the UAE is now exporting its advanced defence technology know-how to other markets around the world.
NIMR, a wheeled armoured vehicle produced by NIMR Automotive for the UAE armed forces, is a joint venture between state-owned Tawazun Holding (60 per cent) and Abu Dhabi-based Bin Jabr Group (40 per cent).
Tawazun, established in 2007 by Tawazun Economic Council, focuses on the long-term development of UAE’s industrial manufacturing and technology capabilities and knowledge-transfer with a specific focus on the defence sector.
