5^th EASG Seminar

Title: Technology Offsets in International Defence Procurement: The Case of Southeast Asia

Speaker: Dr Kogila Balakrishnan (Director of Business Development East Asia, WMG, University of Warwick, previously the Under Secretary of the Defence Industry Division at the Ministry of Defence, Malaysia) https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/people/profile/?wmgid=857

Time: 30 January (Thursday) 11:00-12:30

Venue: OC1.02 (1^st floor of Occulus)

Abstract:

The East Asian region spends approximately USD35 billion on defence procurement. A majority of these countries are net importers of defence equipment and services. Defence is a net cost resulting in large outflows of foreign currencies, with questions revolving around its value-added benefits to a nation. Offsets or industrial collaboration, a policy tool to facilitate technology transfer through international defence procurement, serves multiple purposes. These include: enhancing defence self-sufficiency, boosting industrial and economic development, as well as contributing to national comprehensive security environment. More than 80 countries around the world have some forms of offsets policy, and the industry involves billions of dollars. Nevertheless, offsets practice is often neglected, its impact overlooked and often tainted by secrecy, corruption and bad governance. Based on the speaker’s recent book (Technology Offsets in International Defence Procurement, Routledge 2018), the talk addresses several key questions: Is offsets losing its relevance in Southeast Asia? Whether, in what ways and to what extent offsets work to strengthen national economic and security environment? In the face of the ongoing geopolitical and security challenges, how can offsets reinvent itself to be a more innovative tool to leverage technology leading to industrial and economic development?