Minister Krstičević attends Conference of Croatian and Israeli Defence Industries

The Conference was also attended by the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, General Mirko Šundov and representatives of Croatian and ISraeli defence industries, the representatives of the Croatian ministries, the Croatian Chamber of Commenrce, the Ruđer Bošković Institute, the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Computing and others.

THe Conference was preceded by a bilateral meeting of President Grabar-Kitarović and Minister Krstičević with the President of Israel.

President Rivlin reiterated that the State of Israel and the Republic of Croatia shared many common and pledged support to the development and progress of the Croatian Army.

“Croatia and Israel are small countries but full of energy. This Conference represents our co-operation, trust, friendship and alliance as well as our desire to make the friendship even stronger. We wiish to continue developing defence industry and this is the right opportunity to see the state-of-the-art technology offered by our country; I also have to say that the Israli part is delighted with the Croatian offer too”, said President Rivlin, who extended appreciation to Minister Krstičević for the contribution to the intensidfied co-operation between the two countries. To make our friendship grow, we have to expand our co-operation to other areas too – such as environment protection, research and others. Security and peace must not be taken for granted. Security means absence of violence, defence of borders, sovereignty and territorial integrity; it means the capability to communicate in any conditions, it means assistance in emergency situations on the land, at sea and in the air. Security means co-operation that has to include many areas. Israel wishes to deepen the bilateral co-operation with Croatia. Much has been achieved already but there is still room for progress”, concluded President Rivlin.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović praised the presence of the most important Croatian and Israeli defence firms at the Conference and expressed optimism over the progress of the co-operation and partnership.

“It is in our interest to promote the relations to a higher level. We hope to see initiatives that will bring investments into our industry and I have the impression that the State of Israel has a future vision of establishing new partner relations”, said President Grabar-Kitarović.

The historic decision of the Republic of Croatia to procure multi-role fighter aircraft from the State of Israel, emphasised Minister Krstičević, enabled long-term control of the Croatian air space, thereby contributing to the security of Europe” and was equally important as the investments contained in the agreement on busines co-operation.

<a href=”https://www.morh.hr/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/konferencija_25072018_24_v.jpg”><img class=”size-large wp-image-82479″ src=”https://www.morh.hr/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/konferencija_25072018_24_v-1024×683.jpg” alt=”” width=”868″ height=”579″></a> Foto: MORH / J. Kopi

“Croatia and Israel share similar experiences of hard-won independence and are therefore aware of the importance of maintaining the readiness of the national states for new security threats. Croatia expects from the the Israeli firms, which belong to the world’s top manufacturers, innovators and comptetitors to invest, transfer the expertise and technology to boost employment and economic growth. Our dream is see the first two aircraft flown by Croatian pilots on the Croatian skyline in 2020- the year of the Croatian presidency of the EU and coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the military and police Operation “Storm”.

The Minister concluded by expressing belief that the Conference would produce new opportunities and areas for co-operation of mutual interest. “The Croatian defence industry is today represented by some prominent names among the international manfuacturers of weapons and equipment. The Croatian soldiers are fully equipped with Croatia-made products, it means that the Croatian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence are the best promoters of the Croatian firms’ products“, concluded Minister Krstičević.

Prior to the Conference Minister Krstičević met with the representatives of firms from Israel, and stated that the Croatian Ministry of Defence pledged full support to the development of the defence industry and reminded that in 2018 as many as 35 contracts with 25 Croatian firms on the procurement of military equipment for the Croatian Armed Forces.

“The development of new and advanced weapon system, technolcgies and equipment arthe key to increase the capacities of the Croatian military industry; only the through added value of final products can Croatian businesses earn a position in the international market The Croatian defence industry has been recognised as an important branch of economy and as an area offering significant potential for further development of the strategic Croatia-Isrrael partnership”, said Minister Krstičević.

<a href=”https://www.morh.hr/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/konferencija_25072018_11_v.jpg”><img class=”size-large wp-image-82477″ src=”https://www.morh.hr/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/konferencija_25072018_11_v-1024×683.jpg” alt=”” width=”868″ height=”579″></a> Foto: MORH / J. Kopi

“This is an excelent opportunity to promote our co-operation and develop the defence industries of the two countries”, said Weiss.

The Conference featured a presentation of the Croatian defence industry and the public procurement system in the Ministry of Defence, followed by individual presentations and meetings of the representatives of the defence industries of Croatia and Israel and of representatives of the ministries of the Republic of Croatia and of the firms from Croatia and Israel.

The attending firms included the Agency Alan, Šestan Busch, HS Produkt, DOK-Ing, the Aeronautical Technical Centre, the Marine Electronic Centre and CS Computer Systems.

The Israeli firms included the IAI-IsraelAerospace Industries, Elbit Systems,Rafael, IMI Systems – IsraelMilitary Industries, Aeronautics – Defense Systems, Verint Systems and MER Group.