Military offsets market looks to Middle East and Asia-Pacific
Due to the tense political situation in the Middle East and an intensifying regional arms race in South East Asia, defence budgets of several countries in these regions are expanding, rather than shrinking.
New Market Insight (MI) from analysts Frost & Sullivan, Military Offsets & In-country Industrialisation – Top 20 Military Offsets Markets, finds that ambitious military platform procurement plans and related military offsets packages across APAC, Middle East and Latin America countries will support a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5% over the 2012-2021 period. Governments in these countries are interested in using military offsets projects mainly as a tool to develop the industrial capabilities of the local defence sector.
Frost & Sullivan aerospace, defence and security industry analyst Dominik Kimla said: "Several high-value military offsets deals are expected in line with massive procurement programmes in APAC and Middle Eastern countries," noted Frost & Sullivan Aerospace, Defence and Security Industry Analyst Dominik Kimla. "Military offsets packages have to be attractive – in terms of scale, level of technology transfer and long-term effects of the investment on the local economy – in order to successfully meet the key demands of customers in these regions."
Saudi Arabia is anticipated to be the biggest military offsets market among the analysed countries, with the country's military offsets obligations projected to surpass $62.63 billion by 2021. The highest growth of the military offsets markets, in terms of CAGR, will be witnessed in APAC countries such as Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan.
"Since the APAC and Middle East regions present the highest growth of military offsets obligations, companies interested in entering these markets should regularly assess the market for potential offset receivers and set-up working relations with them well before the announcement of arms contracts," advised Kimla.
In Europe, the picture that emerges is starkly different. Due to severely curtailed defence procurement programmes, the military offsets market across most countries in the region are expected to experience limited or even negative CAGR.
The one ray of hope is Poland, which is forecast to register high growth in offsets investments due to the execution of notable defence modernisation programmes. However, with the implementation of EU regulations, which significantly narrow the military offsets practice among member states, it is expected that Polish military offsets requirements will, at least partially, be covered under the indigenisation practice.
"Overall, OEMs need to incorporate military offsets as a standard business practice in relevant defence markets as it is increasingly emerging as one of the key success factors in defence contract selection process," concluded Kimla. "A robust network of potential military offsets partners and advisers, and stringent selection / vetting process is essential during procurement process."
