The forthcoming Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX 2014) would be the biggest yet, with an increase in the number of participating companies and countries, say organisers.
“The number of companies has increased by 40 percent; the last edition saw over 150 companies, DIMDEX 2014 would have more than 200 companies,” Brig Dr (Eng) Thani A Al Kuwari, Assistant Chief of Staff for Financial Affairs of Qatar Armed Forces, told The Peninsula on the sidelines of a press conference to announce the event, yesterday at the Diplomatic Club.
Organisers of the biennial event are also anticipating an increase in the number of visitors and delegates.
“There is great demand from many countries, expressing a lot of interest to send troops to attend the event,” said Brig Al Kuwari, adding they are targeting 100 countries to take part in the upcoming edition, up from 54 countries in 2012.
On the number of warships coming for the event, he said three have already confirmed, but more are expected to confirm as there are nine more months for the event.
Scheduled from March 25 to 27 at the Qatar National Convention Centre, DIMDEX 2014 is now the leading event of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
“DIMDEX has been an established maritime expo for sometime now. If you look at maritime exhibitions in the Middle East, DIMDEX is the number one; it simply attracts more exhibitors, more visitors, more naval delegations, more warships than any naval show in the Middle East,” Christopher Hudson, Middle East Managing Director of Clarion Events Middle East, told The Peninsula. Clarion Events Middle East Defence Division is the organiser of DIMDEX 2014 held under the patronage of the Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani who is also Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Qatari Armed Forces.
DIMDEX is a fully integrated exhibition and conference providing latest solutions for maritime defence, the protection of critical off shore infrastructure and highlighting the latest technology and solutions designed to protect marine resources, international shipping lines and international maritime infrastructure of coastal states.
It also serves as a key meeting platform for senior representatives from Qatar’s Armed Forces as well as VIP delegations from the Middle East and around the world.
The Middle East Naval Commanders Conference will take place during DIMDEX 2014 and will bring the region’s naval Commanders together with their international counterparts, as well as experts and analytics from all over the world.
DIMDEX will address the growing need for Unmanned Systems, Naval Aircraft, Protection of Offshore Critical Infrastructure, Maritime Border Security, C4ISRTechnologies and Special Operations.
“The naval market in the region is growing rapidly. It’s going to see about 20 percent growth in 2030. It is probably valued at $60bn at the moment and that figure is growing,” said Hudson, adding the region requires around 400 new patrol vessels over the next 10 to 15 years in addition to anti-submarine warfare equipment and ballistic missile detection systems, among others.
Also present at the press conference were Staff Brig Abdulbaqi Saleh Al Ansari, Deputy Chairman of DIMDEX, and Joanna Edwards, Director of DIMDEX.
Source :
Qatar Chronicle
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