BERLIN, May 14 — 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 yesterday, held on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 in Germany, marked the first engagement of its kind.
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.
Khaled added that 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 regarding 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.
Italy has also expressed interest in G2G acquisitions, which are more transparent, cost-effective, and offer stronger guarantees for the recipient country.
Khaled said that G2G arrangements enable the country to avoid third-party interference, while the supplying government can provide direct assurance in delays or failure to deliver assets.
As a comparison, he noted that Malaysia already has a similar procurement agreement with Turkiye 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,” Khaled said.
He emphasised that Malaysia’s primary objective is to ensure that any form of cooperation contributes to its national defence industry's long-term development and strengthening.
— Bernama
