BERLIN: Malaysia and Italy have agreed to initiate a strategic partnership in defence, including a proposed government-to-government (G2G) memorandum of understanding (MoU) on asset procurement.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said his bilateral meeting with Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto on Tuesday (May 13), held on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 here, marked the first engagement of its kind.
He said the meeting was initiated at Italy's request, signalling its interest in deepening defence ties with Malaysia.
"Malaysia welcomes Italy's intention and sees it as an opportunity to enhance defence relations not only through asset procurement, but also through strategic cooperation, including technology transfer that truly benefits the development of our local defence industry," he said when met here.
According to Mohamed Khaled, Malaysia has previously procured military assets from Italy and now seeks to build on that relationship to pave the way for more meaningful collaboration, particularly in terms of local capability development.
"We want every procurement to come with effective technology transfer, not just symbolic gestures. This is crucial to ensure that we are not merely end users, but are also capable of developing our own defence industry," he said.
Mohamed Khaled added that Italy also expressed interest in G2G acquisitions, which are proven to be more transparent, cost-effective, and offer stronger guarantees for the recipient country.
He explained that G2G arrangements enable the country to avoid third-party interference, while the supplying government can provide direct assurance in cases of delays or failure to deliver assets.
As a comparison, he noted that Malaysia already has a similar procurement agreement with Türkiye and is considering such cooperation with South Korea.
"That is why we scrutinise every proposal carefully and assess the sincerity of our partner countries - not just in terms of pricing, but also their willingness to share technology and establish long-term collaboration," he stressed.
He emphasised that Malaysia's primary objective is to ensure that any form of cooperation contributes to the long-term development and strengthening of its national defence industry. - Bernama
