Today, June 22, the council of the Estonian Defence Industry Association (EDIA) with its recently elected new members conveyed and re-elected Taavi Veskimägi as the chairman of the council of the EDIA.
The members of the council are Merle Maigre, Villiko Nurmoja, Heino Piirsalu, Ingvar Pärnamäe, Jaanus Tamm, Arno Vaik, Taavi Veskimägi, Kuldar Väärsi and Oliver Väärtnõu.
The first meeting of the renewed council of the EDIA discussed the work plan for the second half of the year, the split of activities between the members of the council and issues related to the renewal of the EDIA long term strategy and Estonian defence industrial policy.
Taavi Veskimägi underlined an essential task of the elected council is to renew General Defence Industrial Policy. It is also necessary to transform the Estonian Defence Industry Association into an Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association and secure the legal framework for treating the defence industry as a coherent part of Estonia’s comprehensive national defence system.
“For the last ten years we have been successfully developing the Estonian defence industry. As a clear sign of it was the recent success of Estonian defence industry companies in the competition for the European Union Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP), where the Estonian companies were the third most successful among EU member states. Now we want to do the same in promoting the Estonian space industry, turning the association into a classic defence and space industry alliance,” said Veskimägi.
The Estonian Defence Industry Association was established in February of 2009 and nowadays brings together more than a hundred companies covering all critical areas of the defence industry. The goal of the association is to create better opportunities in the market of defence-related services and goods of the companies belonging to the association and to be a strategic partner for the Estonian state to strengthen Estonia’s defence capabilities and contribute to economic development.
