Intersec Middle East opened by Dubai Police Chief

Taking place at Dubai's International Convention and Exhibition Centre, more than 630 specialist exhibitors from 49 countries are taking part.

Attending the opening ceremony were Brigadier Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, Head of Dubai Civil Defence, Brigadier Jassim Bin Rumaitha, Operations Director of Dubai Police, Brigadier Kamis Mattar Bilimzeina Dircetor of Dubai's CID along with other high ranking government officials. Also attending were an official delegation from Thailand and more than 40 of the specialist speakers from Intersec's extensive conference programme.

The event runs until Tuesday 23 January and features dedicated Fire, Police and Safety and Health conferences. Today's keynote address was provided by Brigadier Al Matrooshi followed by Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate, Police Advisor to the UK Government and Ms Lisa Fowlie, President of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

Monday's programme commences with the Middle East Fire Conference led by Brigadier Al Matrooshi, Sir Ken Knight, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade and Charles Man-Chun Chu, Chief Officer of Hong Kong's Fire Department. Running parallel, the Middle East Police Conference is Chaired by David Seaborn Davies, former Chief Superintendent of London's Metropolitan Police. The police programme features specialist contributions including presentations by Alan Matthews, Director of the UK's Forensics Service and Phil Swinburne, former head of Scotland Yard's Computer Crime Unit.

The opening day programme also included an impressive display provided by Dubai Civil Defence. The department presented a helicopter rescue simulation from a high-rise building as well as the emergency evacuation techniques used for serious road traffic accidents.

According to the organisers of Intersec Middle East, Messe Frankfurt, the event has grown substantially over the years to become one of the largest international trade fairs representing the industry. Mrs. Imke Cochran, Group Exhibitions Manager of Messe Frankfurt in Dubai said, "We have seen an increase of 54% from the previous year. The event offers excellent networking opportunities with some of the world's most prominent authorities on all aspects of police, homeland security, fire prevention and fighting, safety and health and commercial security".