Excerpts of Remarks Prepared for Delivery
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Executive Speech Reprint Remarks prepared for delivery to: American-Turkish Council 31st Annual Conference on U.S.-Turkish Relations Washington, D.C. June 11, 2012 William H. Swanson Thank you, Ambassador (Richard) Armitage, for those kind words. Chairman and CEO Raytheon Company It’s an honor to share the stage with you. I also want to thank you, Ambassador (James) Holmes and the American-Turkish Council for inviting me to speak at this outstanding conference. I’m quite impressed by the conference program and the many distinguished guests it’s attracted. I think it speaks to the critical role the Council and the conference play in bringing together our two great nations. We at Raytheon certainly support the Council’s mission of “enhancing the promotion of US-Turkish Commercial, Defense, Technology and Cultural Relations.” In fact, we’ve been building relationships with, and in Turkey for some 40 years. What I would like to talk about this morning is how these relationships have grown, strengthened and deepened; and how they contribute to even better ties between the U.S. and Turkey. Of course, we all know the history of the American-Turkish relationship: • A history of political, economic and defense cooperation going back to the establishment of the Turkish Republic. • Turkey’s critical role in the NATO Alliance – with our troops serving together from Korea to Kosovo to Afghanistan, and bringing victory in the Cold War. 1 Turkey is a key player in the alliance, and it doesn’t always get enough credit for this — with it being among the largest force contributors and strongest supporters. • Turkey is a strategic and enduring ally. But we share much more. We share common values and goals that characterize vibrant nations. And over time, as we’ve gotten to know each other better, these similarities have resulted in a relationship that is now increasingly bilateral and multifaceted. What was once largely a defense/security relationship has now blossomed into something larger. To paraphrase this conference’s theme, it’s become a model partnership with many new areas of cooperation. All you have to do is look at this week’s agenda, with sessions on cooperation related to: • Agbusiness and Food Industries • Banking and Finance • Infrastructure • Pharmaceuticals • Trade The real challenge here is how do we truly strengthen the relationship? How do we educate sectors on both sides on the benefits of the relationship? Our governments have started the process, with both President Obama and Prime Minister Erdoğan expressing the importance of strengthening ties. • The Prime Minister for one, has stated the “objective of establishing close and intensive links between the Turkish and American peoples, scholars and businessmen.” But we have much work to do on our side to educate: why is the relationship of value. I’m an engineer by training, who has been taught to learn by doing. So at Raytheon, we’ve learned the value of strengthened U.S.-Turkish ties firsthand. 2 In many ways, the growth in and maturing of our relationships parallels those of our governments. As I mentioned, the history of Raytheon and its legacy companies in Turkey goes back at least 40 years, initially providing defense and security capabilities to the Turkish government. We’re celebrating our 90th anniversary this year, and next year is the 90th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. And for nearly half that time, we’ve had the honor of partnering with Turkey to meet its security needs — by providing some of the world’s best command and control systems, battlefield radars, and air defense systems — as a trusted partner to the Turkish Land Forces, Turkish Air Force and the Turkish Navy. • We’re proud of our part in supporting the guiding principle of Turkey’s founder Atatürk: “Peace at Home, Peace in the World.” Through our experiences in Turkey – and I’ve been fortunate to have made many visits – we soon saw that Turkey’s aerospace industry has achieved world-class status, with very sophisticated companies, technical expertise and a highly educated workforce. • And, with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Turkey is thriving. We also saw, as others who’ve engaged Turkey have seen, that the country is not where East and West divide, but where they come together. It’s a crossroads. Raytheon needed a supply base in the region. So, we reached out, without even a contract award, to engage Turkish industry to produce critical components for some of our most significant programs. So today, in addition to selling and supporting defense systems to the Turkish government, we’ve moved into a new era of creating strategic partnerships with Turkish industry. Through co-development, co-production and industrial participation, we’re building long-term relationships with great partners like: Aselsan, Roketsan, Havelsan, Ayesas and Pagetel. We look forward to seeing that list continue to grow. 3 Most of our partnerships support Raytheon’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System — the world’s most advanced system to defeat long-range, air and missile threats. Turkish industry is producing key components of this system. And to illustrate the faith we have in our Turkish suppliers, they represent our first major trans-Atlantic partners selected to support and co-develop such Patriot work. Let me tell you about two of our Turkish partners who are supporting our global Patriot Program, with exports to the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan and Kuwait. • Roketsan in Ankara is doing outstanding work producing Patriot GEM-T missile control-section assemblies. These are the critical flight-control elements that guide the missile to its target. • Also in Ankara, Aselsan is producing a key Patriot end-item, a newly designed Mobile Antenna Mast Group, which is an integral element of Patriot’s communications, command and control system. We couldn’t be happier with the results. We announced our agreement with Roketsan in 2009, and we’ve already completed a successful flight test of a GEM-T missile with Turkish components. So having worked directly with Turkish industry, I can report that they’re great partners. Let me repeat: They are great partners. They are world class, they’re among our top suppliers, and they’ve already been recognized with Raytheon’s top supplier awards. Success breeds success, and this experience has caused us to look for Turkish partners to provide additional expertise, in the area of long-term logistics support. Raytheon has a vast and growing international customer base, and given Turkey’s ideal geographic location, we’d be able to better support the defense needs of customers in both Europe and the Middle East. As you can tell, we are excited to be at the forefront of growing connections with Turkish industry. By committing to establishing long-term strategic partnerships, we can together address a multi-billion-dollar, high-tech global market. Strengthening the U.S.-Turkish trading relationship and our military/industrial/commercial relationships are especially important in my industry, aerospace and defense. 4 • We’ve become advocates in promoting a strong and viable Turkish defense industry, including company-to-company relationships, co-development of technology and joint investments where they make sense. This kind of cooperation is the springboard for many good things – industrial participation/development in Turkey, increased imports/exports, people-to-people exchanges, etc. Partnerships like these promote and support a strong and viable Turkish defense industry and promote jobs in both nations and economies. But I think what is most important is how these growing ties foster competition. Why is this important? Well, governments don’t always see eye to eye, and in our democracies, officials can come and go. But when you have economic ties, true and lasting ties between people, businesses and industries, both sides can see and understand the nature of competition and the marketplace. Competition and our customers always require us to be better. Competition pushes us to always improve. In my opinion, Turkish industry understands competition. Turkish industry knows how to excel. And we’ve been delighted. My hope is that we can continue to do more between Raytheon and Turkish industry, and do more between Raytheon and the Turkish government. For instance, if Turkey acquires Patriot as its Long-Range Missile Defense System, Turkish industry will produce a large part of its Patriot system in Turkey. This will provide the foundation for Turkey’s self sufficiency, access to global work-share, and support the addition of many more high-tech jobs – jobs in both the U.S. and Turkey. Added to that, Turkey would gain Patriot’s combat-proven protection against tactical ballistic missiles, aircraft, cruise missiles, and UAVs. 5 Patriot would also reinforce and augment Turkey’s strong NATO ties and existing capabilities. So as I close, I’d like to read a quote from President Obama’s historic speech to the Turkish Parliament. He said: “Because of the strength of our alliance and the endurance of our friendship, both America and Turkey are stronger, and the world is more secure.” I think that is very true. I would like to thank the Turkish nation and people for giving Raytheon the opportunity to be a trusted partner in their defense. We are also grateful for the support of the Turkish armed forces and defense industry for all that they do to contribute to world peace and security. As the U.S. and Turkey move closer together, we are at a unique moment in history. Let us seize this opportunity to sow the seeds and put down even deeper roots to fully connect our people, our businesses and our industries. Raytheon has enjoyed the initial fruits of growing our industrial relationships in Turkey.