26 Feb 15. The curtain came down on yet another successful edition of IDEX, and the third NAVDEX as well as the first edition of UMEX on Thursday, with deals worth AED 18.328bn signed over the course of the week across 33 deals. The 12th edition of IDEX received an overwhelming and positive response from exhibitions, visitors and partners with almost 50 percent of indoor and outdoor exhibition space sold out for 2017. IDEX this year saw more than 100,000 visitors and 159 delegates participating in the event and the conferences. The number of exhibitors soared to 1,200 international and local companies participating companies from 56 countries. Filling 133,000m2 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), IDEX, NAVDEX and UMEX provided a platform to showcase emerging technology, equipment, trends and strategy.
Staff Major General Obaid Al Ketbi, Chairman, IDEX organising committee said, “We have made significant progress with this edition of IDEX, NAVDEX and UMEX. Our promise with every edition is to bring the latest innovations and technologies in the defence space to the forefront for our stakeholders, partners and industry professionals. The success of the edition can clearly be gauged by the nature of engagement and business conducted at IDEX. Increasingly we are also seeing marked growth in the capabilities of UAE companies in defence technology, either home-grown or in partnership with international organisations.”
IDEX 2015 held under the patronage of the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan witnessed significant presence from UAE exhibitors with 170 companies participating this year.
Response from international government participants of this year’s IDEX was enthusiastic:
James Clements, Spokesperson for UK Trade and Investment said, “We have been here from the beginning, for about 10 shows. We are represented highly here and we have always supported IDEX very strongly. UK’s journey in IDEX has seen it grow and become more successful over the years, leading to richer and more diverse participation from small and large British companies, and SME’s. I think the number of participants has more than doubled. We have 80 UK companies here this year from the defence and security industry, and a lot of them are seeking partnerships to help build up the Emirati industry and transfer knowledge and skills to Emiratis. IDEX attracts governments and defence companies from all over the world, which makes it a fantastic place to come and exchange ideas. It is definitely timelier, more than it’s ever been. One of the things that have changed is the security sector, countering terrorism, securing aerospace, and cyber security, all of which are becoming more important in the region.”
Michael Knop, Director of the Federation of German Security and Defence Industries says “It is really nice to be here, it feels like we are amongst friends and not only partners. This friendship is an important thing for future times, and to keep in contact to solve common problems regarding crises around us. The German pavilion has participated in many IDEX’s and we have many products here. For us it’s a very important exhibition, and we are very interested in this region and in the UAE, because Germany has a lot of partners here and we are really interested in the stabilisation of security and policy in the region.”
This year IDEX saw 6 new countries participating these include: Japan, Republic of Bosnia, Latvia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Azerbaijan.
The third edition of NAVDEX this year witnessed exhibitors, spread over 3,401sq meters. It saw 11 visiting, 3 UAE navy ships that included the – Baynunah, HMS Shoreham, USS Carl Vinson, FS Andromede among others. Visitors engaged with 99 international and local companies from 23 countries participating spread over 7 national pavilions at NAVDEX.
Dedicated to the theme of maritime security in all its forms, NAVDEX showcased naval defence systems, maritime security equipment,