The press office of the Hellenic Manufacturers of Defence Material (SEKPY) has released an announcement regarding the New Year’s and Cake Cutting event held at the Athens Armed Forces Officers’ Club on Wednesday, January 31, 2023.

The announcement reads as follows:

The Greek Defence Industry was at the heart of the New Year’s and Cake Cutting event of SEKPY held at the Athens Armed Forces Officers’ Club on Wednesday, January 31, 2023.

With the participation of dozens of entrepreneurs, institutions, Parliament and party delegations, ambassadors and diplomats of many countries and especially the military leadership of the Armed Forces in an admittedly impressive event, the crucial role played by SEKPY in the Greek Defence Industry sector alongside its continuous efforts for development have emerged.

The cake-cutting ceremony was carried out by the General Director of the General Directorate for Defence Investments and Armaments (GDDIA), Vice-Admiral Aristidis Alexopoulos.

The event was honored with the presence of diplomats, such as the US Ambassador to Greece George James Tsunis, the French Ambassador Auer Laurence, the Czech Ambassador Jakub Kafrik, the Egyptian Ambassador Omar Amer Youssef as well as Defence Attachés and diplomats from Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Italy, Hungary and Israel.

From the political world, the event was attended by the Vice President of the Parliament, Giorgos Georgantas, the Dean of the Parliament Vasilios – Nikolaos Ypsilantis, the President of the Committee on Armament Programs and Contracts of the Parliament, Athanasios Davakis, and representatives from the Defence domain of New Democracy, SYRIZA, PASOK and NIKI.

The Armed Forces were represented at the highest possible level at SEKPY’s event, and more specifically by the Chief of Staff, General Dimitrios Houpis, the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis, the Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice-Admiral Dimitrios – Eleftherios Kataras, the Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Air Marshal Dimosthenis Grigoriadis, the Commander of the Special Operations Command, Lieutenant General Prokopios Mavraganis, the Inspector of Reorganization of the Hellenic Army at HNDGS/Coordinator of Construction Management and Natural Disaster Management/Commander of Construction Management and Natural Disaster Management, Lieutenant General Michael Klouvas, and a number of other officers and veterans of the Hellenic Army, Navy and Air Force.

Particularly honorable was the presence of the former Minister of National Defence, Honorary Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Mr. Evangelos Apostolakis, the Honorary Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Mr. Konstantinos Floros, the Honorary Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, Mr. Ioannis Drymousis, and the Honorary Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, Nikolaos Tsounis.

Greetings were delivered by General Dimitrios Houpis, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, the Vice-President of the Parliament, Giorgos Georgantas, and the President of the Committee on Armament Programs and Contracts of the Parliament, Athanasios Davakis.

Also read: SEKPY | Annual Event and Cake Cutting for 2024 – Photos

Tasos Rozolis: SEKPY’s unchanging goal for the Hellenic Industrial Property Academy (HIPA) is functionality, competitiveness and extroversion

In the main greeting of the event, after thanking all attendees, the President of SEKPY, Tasos Rozolis, said, among other things, that “the attendance at today’s cake-cutting event of SEKPY is a special joy and honor for all of us, for the representatives of the domestic Defence Industry, pioneer entrepreneurs and exporters of the country.

Today’s event takes place in an environment where catalytic changes are taking place in both the geopolitical Defence and Security sectors.

Realizing that the developments in the wider region cannot be dealt with by diplomacy alone, the EU is now mobilizing the business, industrial and scientific forces of Europe with the corresponding funding.

Despite the delay, Europe is currently taking steps to establish a ‘made in Europe’ defence, with 2024 being a precursor to what is to come.

Also read: CYPSEC 2021 | Interview of Mr. Tassos Rozolis, President of Hellenic Manufacturers of Defence Material Association (SEKPY) to DЯ

In terms of internal affairs, 2023 was a promising year for the Greek defence industry with Greek SMEs playing a leading role in projects of the European Defence Fund (EDF).

In particular, the total participations of Greek SMEs in EDF21 and EDF22 ranked – both as a number and as a quota – in the 1st place among the Member States.

A constant goal of SEKPY is for the domestic defence industry to achieve functionality, competitiveness and, above all, extroversion, covering the largest possible percentage of domestic needs and contributing to the development of the economy.

By supporting its members and helping improve their capabilities, SEKPY wishes to contribute to their further development and, more generally, to the sector’s development. In 2023, SEKPY’s actions were taken in this regard. 

SEKPY welcomes and commits to supporting in practice the will of the political leadership of the Ministry of National Defence to expand and renew our approach to national security as well as the complete reorganization of the Structure and Operation of the Hellenic Armed Forces, which prioritizes innovation and the involvement of the domestic defence industry.

In 2023, promoting the interests of the domestic industry beyond the Greek borders, SEKPY is a proud member of both the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) and the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD), where it participates with representatives in the respective committees on behalf of Greece.

In addition, its extroversion is expanding both with the co-organization of the DEFEA – Defence Exhibition Athens with ROTA as well as with the high-level conference on Defence, Security and the Defence Industry “DEFEA CONFERENCE”, which will take place for the first time this year on May 15. The said conference will be the most important defence conference in our country for 2024.

The undertaking of the organization of the Greek pavilions at the world’s largest defence exhibitions EUROSATORY and EURONAVAL, under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence and with the substantial support of Enterprise Greece, which we thank, validates the strategy of extroversion.

The two most important events for our industry in 2023 were:

• Last May, the highly successful 2nd DEFEA Exhibition, which took place with the participation of 346 exhibitors from 28 foreign countries and – most importantly – 144 exhibitors from Greece. This exhibition was attended by 24,000 visitors from 91 countries, proving the dynamics of the sector, but also justifying the strategy followed by SEKPY to open the defence sector to the entire Greek industry without barriers, exclusion or expediency.
• Last December, the emblematic and historically established cluster formed by SEKPY and Educational Institutions as well as Research Centers of scientific excellence – of the country’s higher educational scale – through the establishment of the “Defence Industry, Higher Education and Research Liaison Company” called “DefencEduNet”, which is the first-ever DEFENCE CLUSTER.

Also read: “DefenceEduNet“ | Important step for the Greek Defence Industry – Photos

In addition, SEKPY is “spreading its wings” and on February 28 it will make the first presentation of the Greek Defence Industry to European and NATO Bodies in Brussels.

At the domestic level, our main strategic objectives are:

• The creation of a state structure at the level of S.G./Deputy Ministry exclusively responsible for matters pertained to HAPI, ideally with the greatest cross-party acceptance (such as the Independent Authority of Public Revenues (IAPR); and
• Achieving Industrial Offsets (Co-productions, Sub-construction Project, Substantial participation in Follow On Support, Joint Research Programs, Participation in the International Chain of foreign manufacturers, worth at least 30% of armament programs. A feasible and internationally accepted goal,

so that the Greek Defence Industry participates and supports Defence Autonomy, Security of Supply and ultimately the National and European Defence, Industrial and Technological Base.

However, our sector’s objective to strengthen the Greek defence industry is not one-dimensional and is not only related to the sub-construction projects from procurement, which are implemented to meet the needs of the Hellenic Armed Forces, but is rather based on a holistic design with intense European, NATO and International dimensions.

Therefore, there is priority for participation in Collaborative / multinational programs for the development of new weapon systems, e.g. a new battle tank, a new fighter aircraft, new ships (so as not to repeat – for the third time – mistakes made in previous decades, when instead of F-16 and F-35 co-producers, we ended up being mere buyers, with all negative implications entailed in respect of HAPI, the Hellenic Special Forces and the National Economy).

With 2023 as the starting point, SEKPY has set clear goals for the coming year. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound goals which help us stay oriented throughout the year.

This is also the central direction of our Association’s strategy, and in this regard, it is imperative, more than ever before, that the members join hands to support the efforts of the domestic defence industry, to eliminate counter-incentives and substitute the same with incentives for modernization and development towards achieving the intended purpose:

“A strong Greek Defence Industry means Strong Hellenic Armed Forces which, in turn, means a Strong Greece.”

Also read: SEKPY | “Contracts in the Defence Sector and European Developments” conference completes successfully – Photos