Defence and Security Industry Association of the Czech Republic (AOBP) associates companies engaged in research, development, production, trade, and marketing services of military, security and dual use equipment, material, and infrastructure in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1997 as a non-governmental, independent, apolitical, non-profit organization. Since its foundation, it is a respected partner of the Government of the Czech Republic, the Ministries of Industry and Trade, Defence, Interior, and Foreign Affairs. With these institutions, the AOBP signed a series of cooperation agreements.
The AOBP promotes the business and commercial interests of its members in dialogue with the Parliament, ministries, other government authorities, and foreign partners. It became an important participant in legislative processes. Its discussions at the “round tables” with representatives of the state administration or the Parliament allow raising questions related to the defence and security industry at the most competent level.
The AOBP is a partner for some other organizations like the Czech Chamber of Commerce or Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic.
The AOBP is a primary contact point for similar foreign institutions. It helps foreign companies to find suitable partners and vice-versa it helps the Czech firms to contact appropriate companies abroad.
The AOBP supports the pro-export efforts of its member companies and helps them to look for new markets. It also participates in national pro-export policy drafting and engages in its implementation in a way to satisfy the export interests of the AOBP members.
The AOBP also accelerates its priorities in an official list of so-called state-supported specialized domestic and foreign fairs where it helps exhibitors to administer the state support, to negotiate better prices, and to boost their PR activities.
The AOBP actively supports the research and development activities of the member companies and helps them to create specialized groups for complex solutions to meet specific tasks.
The Association became an indispensable intermediary for domestic and international cooperation. It provides for the exchange of information concerning tenders, supplies, and demands. The membership in the Defence Commission of the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) and the European Defence Agency (EDA) allows the AOBP to be part of discussions concerning the future of the European defence industry. In NATO it is engaged through the NIAG activities and also cooperates with NSPA. The AOBP is also active in programmes like AEW & C, AGS, and others, as well as in several education programmes. It organized annual training courses for member companies, using the EU funding. The programmes included the area of quality, standardization, and cataloging in the security sector and defence industry. Currently, the AOBP is running an educational project on how to increase the Competitiveness of the Czech defence and security industry.
The Association also cooperates with publishing house MS Line on publishing a magazine called the Review for Defence and Security Industry which is a media platform for the Czech defence and security industry.