Back-to-back Tech Talk presentations this fall underscored that when it comes to the defense industry, national security is enhanced by international cooperation.
In September, SENEDIA hosted, “Expand Global Sales: Winning Foreign Government Contracts with US Government Advocacy.” The session featured leaders from the U.S. Department of Commerce–Hiro Rodriguez, Keith Yatsuhashi, and Katherine Therieau–providing an overview of the Department’s Advocacy Center and its work to generate trade exports and advocate for U.S. commercial interests abroad. Read the Expanding Global Sales Tech Talk debrief and view presentations here.
We followed up in October with “The AUKUS Forum – Who We Are and What We Do,” led by CEO Michael Sharpe, dialing in from Sydney before sunrise.
Here are three of the key takeaways from these insightful dual sessions:
- Export to Expand. When U.S. businesses successfully compete for foreign business, it leads to more jobs, more economic activity, and greater innovation across the industry. Every $1 billion in exports is estimated to generate nearly 4,100 jobs. So, while competition for defense contracts is high both domestically and internationally, the benefits are equally significant, which is why the Advocacy Center and the U.S. Commercial Service champion American businesses. Services through the latter include export counseling, market intelligence and research, and business matchmaking, among other things.
- Opportunities Abound. Sharpe began his remarks on AUKUS, the trilateral security pact to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, by describing the longstanding relationship between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and how that alliance not only serves each country’s national security interests, but its economic strength, as well. Like SENEDIA, the AUKUS Forum is a collaborative organization that brings together industry, academia, government, and defense. One priority for the organization and the industry more broadly is to build up a nascent missile industry. To do so, Australia will need to learn best practices while building partnerships with supply chain companies in technology, GPS systems, and beyond – opening doors for SENEDIA members to do business abroad. “The opportunities are enormous,” Sharpe said.
- Time is of the Essence. Defense faces two opposing realities. The first is that the industry must act with urgency to enhance collaboration and increase international partnerships. The demand is high for world-class submarines, in particular, and the U.S. must continue to invest in workforce development to ensure we have the skilled workforce necessary to build the future fleet. At the same time, however, the defense industry operates in a highly classified and complex environment. While the Advocacy Center moves as quickly as they can, defense cases are especially time consuming, as they require a more thorough interagency clearance approval process. Businesses must take these hurdles into consideration as they look to do business on an international stage.
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