MOD wants to forge closer defence ties with Malaysia

Deputy Defence Minister Marian Majer has visited the Defence Services Asia (DSA) Exhibition & Conference 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As well as taking a tour of DSA, he met with his Malaysian counterpart Dato' Sri Ikmal Hisham bin Abdul Aziz for bilateral talks on aspects of common interest in the field of defence. This marked the first highest-level meeting between representatives of the Slovak and Malaysian MODs.

Both leaders discussed ways to develop bilateral cooperation between the Slovak and Malaysian Armed Forces, as well as exploring the possibilities for forging defence industry cooperation.

Deputy Defence Minister Majer said: “The Slovak-Malaysian relationship has not been burdened by any open disputes and our countries have a lot in common. Furthermore, we are enjoying an outstanding level of collaboration in international organisations. So, this forms a good basis for intensifying our ties in the areas of common interest.” To establish a cooperative relationship, the Slovak side proposed holding regular consultations between the MODs.

SVK defence manufacturers made their debut at DSA 2022. 12 Slovak businesses made good use of the joint Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Slovak Investment and Trade Department Agency (SARIO) exhibition stand for their presentation. According to Mr Majer, among the Slovak defence products that attracted most interest from senior Malaysian officials and representatives were the Eva and Zuzana 2 Self-propelled Gun Howitzers (SpGHs) by Konštrukta Defence and the collection of munitions by ZŤS Dubnica nad Váhom. He repeatedly stressed that the participation of SVK businesses in international trade shows opens the doors to the world's markets.

While at DSA, Deputy Defence Minister Majer offered a reciprocal invitation to the Malaysian MOD leaders to attend the 9th edition of the International Defence Exhibition Bratislava (IDEB) 2022 in Slovakia, which is due in the first half of May. Traditionally, the Slovak Armed Forces are represented at IDEB with their warfighting capabilities.

On the subject of science and technology, Deputy Defence Minister Majer visited the Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence (STRIDE), where he met with the Director General of STRIDE and received a tour of the Weapon Systems Laboratory. It is in this specialist field that the partners found areas of common interest and agreed to cooperate together.