Dh344 million in contracts signed on final day of defence show

The UAE Armed Forces awarded on Thursday Dh344 million worth of contracts on the final day of Idex, taking the overall total to more than Dh19.17 billion – more than the record set in the show’s previous editing in 2015.
The eight contract awards on the fifth and final day do not include an order for about 1,765 armoured vehicles from the Abu Dhabi-owned military vehicle maker Nimr Automotive, a deal whose value was not disclosed, Idex said.
Of the eight deals, five were awarded to local companies and the remainder to international and regional companies.
At the previous edition of Idex, more than Dh18.3bn worth of deals were announced.
Beltech Export, a Belarusian company, won a Dh110m contract to provide technical support, while Turkey’s FNSS Savunma Sistemileri won a Dh55m contract for technical support as well.
More than 105,400 visitors attended the show, whose next edition will be held in February 2019.
A total of 1,235 companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Russia’s Rostec participated in Idex, a 3 per cent increase on 2015. Local companies had the biggest participation.
The number of participating countries also increased by 10 per cent to 57.
The size of the event expanded by 5 per cent to more than 53,500 square metres.
The past edition in 2015 attracted more than 100,000 visitors.

Source: The National