South Korea’s Defence Acquisition Programme Administration is “resetting” its offset policy. A plan circulated to obligors explains that the country will now recognise that offsets have a cost. In response to the negative image associated locally with offset price increases DAPA will instead refer to “defence industrial cooperation.” The document described...
India’s MoD has proposed significant amendments to the defence offset guidelines. Contractors will be eligible for different multipliers through investments in specific projects. The multipliers will depend on which of three “lists” the project falls into. Opportunities for discharge will be retrospective.
Separate intergovernmental “knowledge sharing sessions” have become a fixture at GOCA conferences. Representatives of the offset authorities of sixteen countries discussed their policies at the Paris conference. Thirty-one delegates took part. The KSS is a platform established to enable offset authorities from many countries to share experiences and challenges, and explore improvements.
Japan has offered to share advanced facial recognition technology with Malaysia and Singapore should it win its bid for a high-speed rail project. Both countries are planning the construction of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail (HSR), a project estimated to be worth $12.5bn-$15bn.
The Bulgarian government is planning to modernise vehicles and equipment for its armed forces, and is stipulating that the machines be manufactured locally. “Our aim is to [have equipment] produced in our country,” announced prime minister Boiko Borisov.