US firm GM Defense and the United Arab Emirates’ Tawazun Council – the government entity that supports investment, innovation as well as research and development (R&D) in the defence and security sectors – signed a collaborative memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the IDEX defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi on 21 February 2023.
The MoU, signed by GM Defense President Steve duMont and Tawazun Council CEO Shareer Hashim Al Hashmi, is the first step toward a formal partnership aimed at developing future products in the areas of advanced mobility and power solutions.
Priority opportunities covered by the MoU include co-operative R&D, regional production and assembly, and post-production support and global logistics focused on the key technology areas of integrated vehicles, power and propulsion (including fuel cell and power generation), and autonomy and connectivity.
“Our collaboration with Tawazun Council is an important step in expanding our reach to defense and government customers in the Middle East,” said duMont. “We are committed to building long-term, lasting relationships in the region and to delivering solutions featuring some of the most advanced, commercially proven technologies that offer reliability and flexibility. With this MoU in place, we can more effectively help our global customers transition to a more electric, autonomous and connected future.”
“Today’s agreement marks an important, new relationship that further strengthens our nation’s domestic defence-industrial base while offering new opportunities for an expanding technology development and supply partnership with GM Defense,” said Al Hashmi. “Tawazun is uniquely positioned within the region as a resource for operations, production and development for world-class technology companies like GM Defense. Our strong global tie makes us an advantageous partner.”
The MoU with Tawazun Council is the first partnership for GM Defense in the Middle East and will help the company expand its reach following the 2022 formation of GM Defense International, which the company said at the time would enable GM “to expand its global presence across international defense and government markets”.
Peter Felstead
