Middle East's largest security and safety event set for January 2010

According to recent reports, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iraq are retaining their buying strength and these three countries together will spend almost $60bn (Dhs220.50bn) on defence in 2009.

"The world's escalating surveillance on all facets of security, whether it's related to terrorism, identity frauds or IT threats, has impelled a rise of interest from authorities and end users. Scheduled to open from 17-19 January 2010 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Intersec trade fair and conference is gearing up to showcase the largest congregation of industry leaders and specialist suppliers ever seen in the Gulf region,"

said Ms. Elisabeth Brehl, Managing Director of Epoc Messe Frankfurt GmbH, organisers of the Intersec trade fair and conference.

Driven by the regional concerns and demographics, along with the growing need to safeguard borders and build disaster resilience, it has become extremely important for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to secure and protect not just sensitive businesses such as oil and gas, chemicals, process industries, banking and financial institutions, but to also be aware of the latest technologies to protect their commercial and public assets.

"Saudi Arabia is undoubtedly the largest defence spender in the Middle East. For 2009 the expenditure is estimated at just under $39bn (Dhs143.32bn), the same is expected to increase over $45bn (Dhs165.38bn) by 2013. The UAE will account for $7bn (Dhs25.73bn) in defence expenditures for 2009, which is a significant amount given its size on the world map. The Middle East by far is one of the fastest growing defence and security markets in the world," observed Ms. Brehl.

"Dealing with Disaster: Readiness, Response and Recovery" will be the key theme for the Intersec 2010 conference. Over the two days of the conference, 15 global and regional experts drawn from homeland & police, security, safety & health, and fire & rescue backgrounds will be sharing their expertise, including the lessons learnt from several disasters and major emergency events, whatever their cause.

The 12th edition of Intersec trade fair and conference in 2010 is projected to be the largest yet, with over 710 exhibitors from 50 countries and over 17,200 trade visitors from 96 countries.