The Defence and Security Equipment International, DSEI, 2017, currently being held in London, is witnessing the participation of a wide range of leading specialist military firms from various countries that are exhibiting their latest products, including military systems and equipment covering land, naval and air forces weapons.

The UAE pavilion participating in DSEI is a platform for the country’s military industry, including the vital sectors of manufacturing, independent systems, maps, maintenance, repairs, communications, logistical services and technological development.

The UAE’s participation in the exhibition reflects the considerable capabilities of its military industry, highlighted by the exhibited weapons, heavy equipment, armoured vehicles and military systems that are completely manufactured in the UAE.

Among the key exhibited items are armoured vehicles, troop carriers, thermal cameras, and telescopes to monitor targets and direct missiles, as well as other products and equipment that were manufactured by major international military firms and were designed for use in the UAE’s desert and mountain environment.

The UAE is participating, though its pavilion, in the exhibition alongside the United States, France, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Brazil, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Turkey, as well as many other countries.

Emirati companies demonstrated their military industrial capabilities through the largest platform for their advanced and innovative projects in the field of maintenance, manufacturing, repairs, logistical services, mapping and communication services, and training and technological development.

Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of the Tawazun Economic Council, stated that the council has launched an initiative to bring together national military companies that wish to participate in the exhibition, under the UAE pavilion. The Council also specialises in strategic investments and focusses on developing Abu Dhabi’s long-term industrial and technological capabilities, by establishing partnerships and joint projects, he added.

He further added that the Council has established the "Tawazun Industrial Park," to play an important role in the UAE’s economic diversity, as a major centre of the local strategic manufacturing sector, in line with the vision of the wise leadership to diversify the nation’s sources of income and guarantee a sustainable future.

He stressed that the Tawazun Industrial Park serves the regional and international defence sectors, as well as major manufacturing companies. The Park aims to contribute, through its modern infrastructure that was designed to accommodate defence and military manufacturing firms, to the UAE’s industrial growth while offering a major opportunity to transfer international knowledge and expertise to local manpower, to create a strong industrial base, he added.

Al Hosani stressed that the concept of an integrated industrial partnership is important to the strategy of the Tawazun Industrial Park, as it strengthens the efforts of the defence manufacturing sector to create an integrated industrial system, which begins with production and ends with distribution.

He further stated that the Tawazun Economic Council has established the National Defence Contractors Council, NDCC, which aims to co-ordinate and facilitate joint projects between UAE defence companies and their international counterparts, to expand the defence industry sector and represent the council’s members in local and international events and exhibitions, under the umbrella of the UAE pavilion.

He explained that the Council is also a platform for facilitating direct foreign investments and technologies related to the defence and security industry, to realise the UAE’s industrial development goals. The Council includes the membership of 62 local companies from the various emirates of the UAE, and the NDCC is the most important body participating in DSEI, he added.