Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák calls his working trip to Malaysia “a successful mission”

Following his official visit to Azerbaijan with Prime Minister Robert Fico, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic Robert Kaliňák completed a working trip to Malaysia. The Slovak MOD delegation was officially received by Malaysian Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin in Kuala Lumpur and toured the leading defence trade show in the region – Defence Services Asia (DSA) Exhibition and Conference 2024 – including the Slovak and Czech exhibition stands.

Defence Ministers Robert Kaliňák and Mohamed Khaled Nordin met for talks in the spirit of further enhancing the bilateral defence cooperation the countries share. In addition to this, as the contract for howitzers put out to tender by the Malaysian Armed Forces enters its final contractor selection, the Slovak Defence Minister came to Kuala Lumpur to give his support to Slovakia's 155mm BIA 6x6 fully automated, self-propelled howitzer, amidst competition with a French artillery system.

Speaking after the meeting, DPM and MINDEF Robert Kaliňák said: “Following the meeting with the Defence Minister, it has turned out that we have even more topics of common interest than it might seem at first glance. Malaysia’s Main Battle Tank (MBT) carries a main gun that comes from Dubnica nad Váhom. So, there was a lot to talk about. Not just about the servicing and replacement of equipment in service with the Malaysian Armed Forces, but also about joint ventures that would enable the production of not only weapons and weapon systems, but munitions too.”

Mr Kaliňák also revealed that one of the contracts is now in the final phase of the decision-making process, but we just have to wait until the results are officially announced. “If successful, Slovakia will be awarded a very important contract that will help to make the Slovak defence industry and its products visible and to increase our gross domestic product. Not to mention that improving the diversification of the economy is extremely important for Slovakia. Like in Malaysia, I believe we will be successful in other markets,” he stated and pointed to the socio-economic aspects of such projects, leading to job creation and state-revenue growth.

Slovakia's showcase at DSA Kuala Lumpur 2024 can be described as very successful, as confirmed by the Slovak exhibitors – there were seven of them at this year's trade show. With their high-quality product line on display at the Slovak exhibition stand, they captured the interest of defence officials and industry professionals.

Director General of the MOD Defence Policy Branch Robert Bestro considers building Slovak Air Defence (AD) and Air Policing (AP) capabilities as a strategic task. “The working trip to Malaysia shows that the SVK Government and the Ministry of Defence leadership are genuinely serious about promoting and upgrading the Slovak defence industry and want to develop good relations and partnerships with different countries. That’s why we turned up to support, among others, our Czech neighbours at the trade show,” Mr Bestro said.