Organising IDEX and NAVDEX in collaboration with the UAE Armed Forces

He added: “Year-on-year, IDEX has played a significant role in promoting Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a launch pad for pre-eminent international events that are much awaited by senior military leaders, decision makers, investors and companies alike. Such events provide the opportunity to showcase the latest developments across the defence industry.”

Al Dhaheri pointed out that the upcoming edition of IDEX will be the largest ever since it was first launched in 1993. This development follows the decision by ADNEC to hold the Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Conference (UMEX) separately from IDEX – helping to increase the exhibition space for current and new exhibitors. IDEX and NAVDEX will be hosted across ADNEC’s indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces and exceed 133,000 square metres.

Al Dhaheri also pointed out that IDEX 2017 will witness record participation from among the largest international defence and security companies globally in addition to hosting many national entities. He added that NAVDEX 2017, set to be held alongside IDEX, will witness an increase in the number of participating companies as well as in the fleet of naval ships to be displayed at the ADNEC Marina.

Furthermore, two specialised conferences will be organised as part of both events. The conferences are expected to draw the participation of well-known experts and specialists who will present research and share know-how on many regional and global defence and security issues and developments.

Over 1,200 exhibitors and more than 101,000 visitors from across the globe participated in IDEX 2015, with signed deals amounting to over AED18.3 billion.