BERLIN: Malaysia and Italy have agreed to initiate a strategic partnership in the defence sector, including a proposed government-to-government MOU on asset procurement.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who disclosed this, said his bilateral meeting with Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto held on the sidelines of the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 meet 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, Bernama reported.
According to Khaled, Malaysia previously procured military assets from Italy but now wanted to build on that relationship to pave the way for more meaningful collaboration, mainly 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 we are not merely end users but also capable of developing our own defence industry,” he said.
Khaled added that Italy also expressed interest in government-to-government acquisitions, which was proven to be more transparent, cost-effective and offered stronger guarantees for the recipient country.
He said such arrangements enabled 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 comparison, he said Malaysia already has a similar procurement agreement with Turkiye and is considering it with South Korea too.
“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 said.
